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1IRKEIEY 

GENERAL 
LIFRARY 

UNIVfcRStTY    OF 
CALIFORNIA 


OBSERVATIONS  ON 
A   SALMON   RIVER 


Map  of 
GRAND  CASCAPEDIA  RIVER. 

SCALE 

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OBSERVATIONS    ON 
A    SALMON    RIVER 


BY 
F.  GRAY  GRISWOLD 


PRIVATELY  PRINTED  FOR 

THOMAS  GIBBONS 

MINEOLA,  LI. 

NEW  YORK 


THE   PLIMPTON   PRESS 

NORWOOD 

MASS 

u-s 

A 


ANGLING 

THE  charms  of  angling  are  anticipation 
and  solitude.  It  takes  much  time  and  prac- 
tice to  become  proficient,  and  you  must  be 
keen  and  quick  and  have  great  delicacy  of 
touch  to  become  a  good  angler.  It  culti- 
vates quickness,  self-control,  and  above  all 
things,  patience. 

Angling  is  a  sporting  fight  between  you 
and  the  fish  and,  as  no  two  families  of  fishes 
fight  alike,  you  are  matching  your  brains 
and  cleverness  against  the  ingenuity  of  the 
fish. 

It  also  cultivates  a  habit  of  observation 
which  is  so  necessary  if  one  would  enjoy  life 
and  nature,  and  it  takes  one  to  beautiful 
rivers  at  nature's  most  attractive  season 
when  there  is  so  much  that  is  interesting  to 
observe  both  in  bird  and  in  plant  life. 

V 

M842043 


VI  ANGLING 

The  solitude  on  the  Canadian  rivers  is 
broken  by  the  pleasant  sound  of  running 
waters,  the  note  of  a  kingfisher  or  the 
drumming  of  a  partridge,  and  the  typical 
clinking  sound  of  iron-shod  canoe  poles  as  a 
canoe  is  driven  up  stream. 


THE   GRAND   CASCAPEDIA 
RIVER 


THE    GRAND    CASCAPEDIA 
RIVER* 

IN  the  far  northern  wilderness  of  the 
Province  of  Quebec  are  the  sources  of  two 
streams  which  form  the  headwaters  of  the 
Grand  Cascapedia  river.  The  Lake  Branch 
rises  in  Lake  Cascapedia  and  flows  from 
this  lake  a  distance  of  eighteen  miles  before 
joining  its  companion  the  Salmon  Branch, 
whose  source  is  many  miles  farther  north. 

The  meeting  of  these  two  streams  at  the 
celebrated  Forks  Pool  is  the  beginning  of 
the  main  stream  of  the  Grand  Cascapedia 
river. 

From  Lazy  Bogan,  which  is  a  short  dis- 
tance below  the  Forks  Pool,  the  river  passes 
through  a  most  beautiful  mountainous 
country;  it  is  fed  by  numerous  brooks  and 

*  The  Indian  name  from  which  Cascapedia  is 
derived  is  Gascapegiag  and  means  Wide  River. 

3 


4  OBSERVATIONS   ON    A   SALMON   RIVER 

its  banks  are  covered  by  a  thick  virgin  forest 
of  fir  trees  and  birches.  It  is  a  fast-running 
stream  with  many  rapids  but  no  falls  and 
is  about  eighty  miles  in  length  from  its 
source  to  where  it  empties  into  the  Bay  of 
Chaleurs. 

This  bay  was  named  by  Cartier  who 
welcomed  its  genial  climate  after  his  voyage 
through  the  ice-fields. 

There  is  a  road  along  the  left  bank  of  the 
river  for  fifty  miles  which  was  constructed 
in  part  by  the  Cascapedia  Club  in  1914  in 
order  to  preserve  the  spawning  beds  from 
horse-drawn  scows  employed  in  taking  pro- 
visions to  the  lumber  camps. 

The  upper  river  and  its  branches  are  the 
spawning  grounds  of  countless  salmon  and 
sea-trout,  for  the  Grand  Cascapedia  is 
justly  celebrated  for  its  salmon  fishing  and 
holds  the  record  for  the  heaviest  average 
weight  of  fish  among  the  Canadian  rivers. 

The  salmon  spawn  during  the  latter  part 
of  October  and  early  in  November  and  the 
spawning  grounds  are  chiefly  above  Middle 


THE  GRAND   CASCAPEDIA  RIVER  5 

Camp,  at  Lazy  Bogan,  and  in  the  Lake  and 
Salmon  branches. 

The  river  was  fished  in  early  days  by 
numerous  anglers,  among  the  number  being 
President  Arthur,  who  was  a  keen  fisherman. 

From  1878-93  the  fishing  was  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  succeeding  Governors-General 
of  Canada  —  namely,  that  part  of  the  water 
which  is  now  leased  by  the  Cascapedia  Club, 
for  the  land  and  fishing  rights  of  the  first 
fifteen  miles  of  the  Grand  Cascapedia  belong 
to  individual  owners. 

It  was  fished  by  the  Marquis  of  Lome 
from  1878-83,  by  Lord  Lansdowne  from 
1883-88,  and  by  Lord  Stanley  from  1888- 
93.  Lord  Aberdeen  succeeded  Lord  Stan- 
ley as  Governor-General  and,  not  being  an 
angler,  renounced  all  claim  to  the  fishing. 

In  1893  the  fishing  rights  and  three 
chains  of  woodland  on  each  side  of  the  river 
were  leased  to  the  Cascapedia  Club  for  a 
term  of  years. 

The  Club  consisted  of  the  following 
original  members: 


6  OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

John  L.  Cadwalader 
E.  W.  Davis 
R.  G.  Dunn 

Henry  W.  de  Forest 
H.  B.  Hollins 
John  S.  Kennedy 
Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell 
Philip  Schuyle. 
J.  J.  Van  Alen 
W.  K.  Vanderbilt 

The  Club  was  limited  to  ten  members. 
The  following  members  have  been  elected 
since  1894: 

F.  G.  Bourne 

Henry  C.  Frick 

Robert  W.  de  Forest,  Member,  1921 

Dr.  Charles  McBurney    

William  de  F.  Haynes,  Member,  1921 

Edward  W.  Sheldon,         

Hamilton  F.  Kean,         Member,  1921 
W.  Emlen  Roosevelt,  " 

F.  Gray  Griswold,  "  " 

Childs  Frick,  "  " 

George  Gibbs,  "  " 

In  1915  the  membership  was  reduced  to 
seven  members. 


THE  GRAND   CASCAPEDIA  RIVER  7 

The  main  Club  House  is  at  New  Der- 
reen,* so  named  by  Lord  Lansdowne  who 
caused  the  first  house  to  be  built  at  this 
chosen  spot  and  named  it  after  his  sporting 
estate  in  Ireland. 

Eight  miles  above  New  Derreen  is  a 
three-rod  station  called  Middle  Camp,  and 
at  sixteen  miles  there  is  accommodation  for 
two  anglers  at  Tracadie. 

Lazy  Bogan,  the  last  camp  on  the  river, 
is  twenty  odd  miles  farther  up  the  stream. 

The  Club  has  over  forty  miles  of  fishing 
and  more  than  fifty  salmon  pools. 


Club  Rules 

DIVISION    OF    WATER 

At  New  Derreen  and  Middle  Camp  the  number 
of  rods  shall  not  exceed  four  at  each  station, 
and  at  Tracadie,  shall  not  exceed  two. 

As  between  New  Derreen  and  Middle  Camp, 
when  both  are  occupied,  and  as  between  Middle 
Camp  and  Tracadie,  when  both  are  occupied,  the 

*  Gaelic  for  Little  Oak  Wood. 


8  OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

water  shall  be  apportioned  as  follows :  New  Der- 
reen,  from  the  lower  Club  line  to  the  head  of 
Dimock's  pool;  Middle  Camp,  from  the  latter 
point  to  the  head  of  Big  Jonathan ;  Tracadie,  all 
above,  to  the  foot  of  Indian  Falls. 

Any  member  shall  have  the  right  to  fish  for 
three  consecutive  days  at  any  station  not  fully 
occupied,  at  the  expiration  of  which  any  other 
member  shall  have  the  right  to  occupy  the  same 
for  a  like  period  of  three  days.  A  member  who 
shall  not  have  previously  fished  a  station  shall 
in  all  cases  have .  preference  over  one  having 
already  fished  such  station. 

The  fishing  at  each  station  shall  be  divided  by 
the  members  present,  and  the  first  order  of  choice 
shall  be  determined  by  lot,  after  which,  the  fish- 
ing shall  be  taken  in  rotation,  the  occupants  of 
the  upper  pools  of  the  station  moving  on  the 
succeeding  day  to  the  pools  next  below. 

All  drawing  for  or  distribution  of  water  shall 
occur  at  the  camp  or  club  house  located  thereon. 

LIMIT  OF  CATCH 

No  member  shall  fish  for  salmon  on  Club  waters 
more  than  thirty  days,  or  parts  of  days,  during 
any  one  fishing  season,  nor  shall  any  member  take 
or  kill  more  than  seventy-five  salmon  in  any 
season,  nor  more  than  eight  salmon  in  any  one 
day. 


THE   GRAND   CASCAPEDIA  RIVER  9 

Members  will  be  allowed  to  take  only  twelve 
(12)  fish  above  Berry  Mountain  Brook. 

Fish  beached  or  landed  by  gaff  shall  count  as 
fish  taken,  whether  subsequently  released  or  not. 

GUESTS 

After  June  30th  a  member  shall  have  the  right 
to  invite  a  guest,  and  divide  his  fishing  with  such 
guest,  subject  to  the  following  restrictions:  One 
guest  only  can  be  so  invited  in  any  one  season, 
whose  stay  shall  be  limited  to  the  member's  stay. 
Member  and  guest  must  in  all  cases  occupy  the 
same  station  and  shall  be  allowed  to  fish  with  one 
rod  and  from  one  boat  only.  All  fish  taken  by 
the  guest  shall  be  counted  as  part  of  the  member's 
score  for  both  season  and  daily  limit. 

If  any  other  member  or  members  are  present 
at  any  camp,  a  member  and  his  guest  shall  occupy 
one  room  only  in  case  the  remaining  rooms  are 
required  to  provide  a  room  for  each  member. 


SALMON    POOLS 


STREAMS  ; 

THE    SHALLOWS    MURMUR,    BUT    THE    DEEP 

ARE    DUMB." 


SALMON   POOLS 


New  Dekreen 


Lower  Water 
House 
Tent 
Rock 
Ledge 
Duthies 
Jack  the  Sailor 
Dewinton's 

Little  Jack  the  Sailor 
Slide 

Big  Curly 
Hole  in  the  Wall 
Anson's 

Middle  Camp 


Upper   Water 
Maple 
Limestone 
Upper  Jam  Rapids 
Lower  Jam  Rapids 
Dimock's 


Lower  Water 
"  424  "  (One  Half) 
Big  Picot 
Little  Picot 
Turner's  Brook 
Stanley's 
Big  Camp 
Little  Camp 


Upper  Water 
"  424  "  (One  Half) 
Moransay 
Doctor 
Commodore 
Van  Alen 
Captain 
Joe  Martin 
Patterson's 
Little  Jonathan 
Big  Jonathan 
13 


14        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

Tkacadie 
Lower  Water  Upper  Water 

Tracadie  McGregor's 

Little  Tracadie  Josh's  Brook 

Big  John  Charlie  Valley 
Button  Rapids  (Charles  Valois) 

Long  Reach  Lady  Florence  (Anson) 

Lost  Channel  Murdock's 

Above  the  "  Falls  " 

Head  of  Falls 

Three  Islands 

Big  Berry  Mountain 

Jerome  Farms 

Lazy  Bogan 

House 

Parson's 

Forks 

The  first  authentic  record  of  the  salmon 
fishing  on  the  Grand  Cascapedia  is  of  the 
season  of  1879. 

The  Hon.  C.  Ellis,  L.  Iveson,  and  Cap- 
tain G.  A.  Percy  fished  from  June  9th  to 
August  15th  and  Captain  Fane,  It.  N.,  and 
Captain  Drummond,  R.  N.,  from  July  25th 
to  August  1st. 


SALMON   POOLS  15 

Their  total  score  was  647  salmon  that 
weighed  16,288  pounds;  135  of  these  fish 
weighed  30  pounds  each,  or  more. 

Captain  Percy  had  the  best  individual 
day's  fishing:  17  fish  weighing  465  pounds 
or  an  average  of  27  pounds. 

The  party  took  6  fish  of  over  40  pounds 
each. 

The  Score 

Fish  30  Pounds 
Fish        Pounds        and   over 

Ellis  269  6714  53 

Iveson  216  5483  48 

Percy  137  3451  27 

Fane  12  305  4 

Drummond    ...  13  335  3 


647     16,288  135 

Lord  Lansdowne  and  his  friends  had  the 
good  luck  to  take  1245  salmon  weighing 
29,188  pounds  in  four  seasons  (1884-87), 
an  average  of  23 J  pounds;  210  of  these  fish 
weighed  30  pounds  and  over  and  the  heaviest 
weighed  45  pounds. 


16        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

Mr.  It.  G.  Dunn  took  a  54-pound  salmon 
on  June  20,  1886,  4J  feet  in  length,  28 
inches  girth,  with  a  tail  spread  of  14  inches. 

On  June  13,  1892,  Hon.  Victor  Stanley 
landed  a  53-pound  salmon;  and  in  1901 
Mr.  E.  W.  Davis  was  credited  with  a  fish 
weighing  52  pounds. 

There  was  a  54-pound  salmon  taken  in 
1920  in  the  Judge's  pool  on  Mr.  Douglas' 
water,  below  New  Derreen,  by  Mr.  Nadeau. 

I  had  a  good  day  on  the  New  Moon  in 
June,  1920  —  eight  fish  weighing  228 
pounds,  an  average  of  28J  pounds. 

33,  35,  32,  27,  27,  26,  26,  22  pounds. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  scores  of  early 
days  could  be  duplicated  now  if  as  in  those 
days  there  were  no  restraint  on  fishing  the 
upper  waters. 

During  the  sixteen  years  from  1894  to 
1909,  3440  salmon  were  taken  on  the  Club 
waters. 

Of  these  fish  64  weighed  40  pounds  or 
more;  595  fish  weighed  from  30  to  40 
pounds  each  and  141  tipped  the  scales  at 


SALMON    POOLS 


17 


under  17  pounds.    The  heaviest  fish  weighed 
52  pounds. 


8 

o 

■ 

a 

a 

A 

J 
B 

.55 

1 

8 
© 

o 

8 

93 

I 

< 

a 

i 

1 

r 

1910 

223 

4 

42 

9 

24 

5484 

43 

1911 

141 

5 

38 

29 

23 

3287 

45 

1912 

151 

3 

19 

10 

23 

3611 

46 

1913 

162 

1 

32 

19 

23 

3755 

43 

1914 

149 

4 

23 

17 

23 

3709 

47 

1915 

186 

0 

15 

35 

25 

3781 

34 

1916 

337 

7 

65 

52 

20 

7515 

47 

1917 

390 

1 

89 

51 

22 

8679 

40 

1918 

336 

8 

92 

41 

23 

7866 

43 

1919 

209 

1 

42 

15 

23 

4927 

39 

Total 

2284 

34 

457 

278 

23 

52,614 

1920.     248  salmon,  3  fish  over  40  pounds. 
60  fish  30  pounds  and  over. 
26  fish  under  17  pounds. 
Heaviest  fish  43  pounds. 
Weight   6009  pounds.     Average  24 
pounds. 


18        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 


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GAME   FISH 


*  MEN   LIVE   LIKE   FISHES ;  THE   GREAT   ONES 
DEVOUR   THE   SMALL  " 


GAME    FISH 

FROM  the  standpoint  of  a  fisherman  I 
divide  game  fish  into  two  classes  namely, 
the  forked-tailed  and  the  square-tailed 
fishes. 

The  former  travel  great  distances,  swim 
rapidly,  and  are  nearly  all  surface  feeders 
and  strong  surface  fighters. 

The  latter  dwell  on  the  bottom,  are  bot- 
tom feeders,  and  generally  have  a  local 
habitat. 

The  forked  tail  has  been  given  to  the 
swordfish,  tarpon,  bonefish,  bluefish,  spear- 
fish,  dolphin,  and  all  the  pampano,  herring, 
and  mackerel  tribes. 

The  tail  is  forked  for  the  purpose  of  leav- 
ing a  free  space  directly  behind  the  axis  of 
the  body  where  the  stream-lines  following 
the  sides  of  the  moving  fish  converge.     This 

21 


22        OBSERVATIONS  ON   A  SALMON   RIVER 

means  ease  and  speed  in  swimming.  A 
round  or  square  tail  is  a  drag  for  it  fills  this 
space. 

The  whales  and  porpoises  have  horizontal 
forked  tails  which  they  move  up  and  down, 
for  they  rise  to  the  surface  when  swimming. 

Among  the  square-tailed  fish  I  classify 
the  bass  family,  the  snappers  and  groupers, 
and  the  salmon  family. 

The  square-tailed  fish  are  slow  swimmers 
and  seldom  travel  far.  Those  that  do,  such 
as  the  drumfish  and  the  striped  bass,  pro- 
ceed at  a  leisurely  pace.  The  latter  during 
their  yearly  pilgrimages  travel  and  feed  so 
close  inshore  that  it  has  been  possible  by 
netting  to  almost  destroy  what  was  at  one 
time  one  of  the  most  numerous  of  our  game 
fishes. 

The  forked-tail  fish  journey  great  dis- 
tances and  often  at  a  high  rate  of  speed, 
seeking  food  or  a  change  of  water  tempera- 
ture, and  do  not  hibernate  as  do  some  of  the 
square-tailed  fish. 

The  square  tail  of  the  salmon  is  one  proof, 


GAME  FISH  23 

to  my  mind,  that  when  they  leave  a  river 
they  do  not  journey  far  but  dwell  in  the 
deep  sea  near  the  mouth  of  their  summer 
home. 

Although  the  seafood  of  the  salmon  when 
off  the  mouth  of  a  river  is  known  to  be  her- 
ring and  the  like,  their  square  tails  would 
lead  one  to  believe  that  they  are  bottom 
feeders  and  that  they  feed  leisurely  and 
well,  which  would  account  for  the  fresh-run 
fish's  superabundance  of  fat. 

According  to  Alexander  Agassiz  the  pe- 
lagic animals  are  very  short-lived  but  they 
reproduce  marvelously.  Some  of  the  Cope- 
pods,  which  are  minute  crustaceans,  have 
no  less  than  thirty  generations  in  three 
weeks. 

As  they  are  constantly  dying  there  is  a 
shower  of  food  falling  over  the  ocean  floor 
which  joins  the  food  that  comes  from  the 
littoral  regions.  It  is  stated  that  there  is  a 
thick  broth  of  food  over  wide  areas  of  sea 
bottom  which  can  readily  be  obtained  with 
very  little  effort  on  the  part  of  the  fishes. 


24        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

The  progress  of  large  bodies  of  salmon  in 
the  sea,  judged  by  the  catches  in  nets  at 
different  stations,  is  said  to  be  four  or  five 
miles  a  day.  They  only  travel  in  the  day- 
time; no  salmon  are  taken  in  the  nets  at 
night. 

After  entering  the  river,  these  conditions 
are  changed,  for  then  the  salmon  travel 
mostly  by  night. 

Previous  to  entering  the  pure  fresh  water 
they  remain  for  some  time  in  the  estuaries, 
moving  in  and  out  on  the  tides  and  becom- 
ing gradually  acclimatized  to  the  change 
from  salt  to  fresh  water. 

A  considerable  portion  of  the  salmon  that 
spawn  before  the  rivers  freeze  return  to  the 
sea  the  same  autumn,  but  a  large  number 
winter  in  the  rivers  and  come  down  stream 
in  the  spring  as  kelts  or  "  slinks." 

The  French  Canadians  call  these  fish 
lingards  —  a  corruption  of  "  long  gars." 

The  kelts  that  descend  the  rivers  in  the 
autumn  are  dark  in  colour  and  slimy,  where- 
as those  that  leave  in  the  spring  are  bright 
fish. 


GAME   FISH  25 

It  is  supposed  that  the  grilse  are  three  or 
four  years  old  and  that  their  rate  of  growth 
after  that  period  is  from  four  to  six  pounds 
a  year. 

A  salmon  was  caught  at  West  Baldwins 
half  a  mile  from  Channel  Head,  Newfound- 
land, by  Louis  Sheaves  on  June  5,  1919, 
with  a  silver  tag  attached  to  its  dorsal  fin 
marked  A1124.  The  fish  when  caught 
measured  40  inches  in  length,  23  inches  in 
girth  and  weighed  26  pounds.  R.  Mosdell, 
the  station  master  at  Port  aux  Basques, 
obtained  the  fin  tag  and  submitted  it  to 
the  Game  and  Inland  Fisheries  Board  for 
inquiry  as  to  where  the  fish  had  been  lib- 
erated. 

On  July  15  he  received  a  message  from 
the  Game  Board  stating  that  the  fish  was 
liberated  from  the  salmon  hatchery  at  Mar- 
garie,  Nova  Scotia,  November,  1917;  at 
that  time  it  measured  34  inches  in  length  and 
weighed  12  pounds. 

This  dislodges  the  theory  that  salmon 
always  frequent  the  same  water  yearly,  and 


26        OBSERVATIONS   ON  A  SALMON  RIVER 

also  shows  a  remarkable  growth  within  the 
given  period. 

This  fish  in  nineteen  months  grew  in 
length  6  inches,  being  an  average  of  almost 
an  inch  every  three  months,  and  gained  an 
average  of  three-quarters  of  a  pound  in 
weight  per  month  for  the  same  period. 


THE   AGE   OF    SALMON 

IT  IS  SAID  THAT  WHEN  FISH  ARE  TAKEN  FROM 
THE  WATERS  AND  ALLOWED  TO  DIE  THAT  THEY  ALL 
DIE  DRUNK.  THEIR  BLOOD  BECOMES  INTOXICATED 
BY   THE    PREPONDERANCE    OF    OXYGEN    IN    THE    AIR. 

WILL  THE  PROHIBITIONISTS  EVENTUALLY  FORBID 
FISHING  WHEN   THIS  FACT  BECOMES   KNOWN? 


THE    AGE    OF    SALMON 

ACCORDING  to  Malloch  it  is  easy  not 
only  to  tell  the  age  of  an  Atlantic  salmon 
by  its  scales  but  also  to  follow  its  journey- 
ings  and  occupations  through  life. 

As  the  rings  on  a  cross-section  of  a  tree 
show  the  tree's  yearly  growth,  so  do  the  rings 
on  a  salmon's  scale  determine  the  age  of  a 
salmon. 

The  scales  of  a  parr  hatched  in  March 
when  a  year  old  have  16  rings,  and  32  rings 
can  be  counted  after  the  expiration  of  an- 
other twelvemonth. 

Two  months  or  so  later  the  parr  becomes 
a  smolt  and  goes  down  to  the  sea  and  may 
return  the  following  May  or  June  as  a  grilse 
with  52  rings,  more  or  less. 

If  the  rings  on  a  fish's  scales  number  less 
than  58  it  is  a  grilse,  if  more  than  that 
number  show  it  is  a  salmon. 

29 


30        OBSERVATIONS  ON   A  SALMON  RIVER 

All  the  grilse  and  salmon  that  enter  a 
river  are  supposed  to  spawn  and  those  that 
remain  long  in  fresh  water  have  the  edges 
of  their  scales  broken  off.  When  the  kelt- 
grilse  and  the  kelt-salmon  return  to  the  sea 
and  begin  to  feed,  a  ring  forms  around  these 
broken  parts  and  these  rings  increase  in 
number  according  to  the  time  the  fish  re- 
main in  the  sea. 

In  the  Grand  Cascapedia  River  a  grilse  is 
seldom  seen  or  taken.  This  may  account  for 
the  great  average  size  of  the  salmon  in  that 
river.  These  fish  may  pass  their  grilse  term 
of  life  in  the  sea,  where,  with  good  food  and 
without  the  fatigue  of  spawning,  they  grow 
in  weight  accordingly,  and  enter  the  river 
later  on  as  full-fledged  salmon.  Few 
salmon  are  taken  in  the  Grand  Cascapedia 
under  20  pounds  in  weight,  and  it  was  there 
that  Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell  took  in  1896  40 
salmon  that  averaged  28  pounds. 

In  order  to  determine  the  time  the  salmon 
remain  in  the  sea  it  is  necessary  to  count  the 
rings  from  the  broken  or  uneven  lines  out- 


THE  AGE   OF   SALMON  31 

wards.     No  rings  are  formed  on  the  scales 
in  fresh  water. 

The  great  majority  of  salmon  are  said  to 
spawn  but  once  although  some  spawn  twice 
or  more  often. 

It  is  claimed  that  salmon,  during  the 
period  of  their  stay  in  a  river  and  after  hav- 
ing fulfilled  their  mission,  lose  twenty-five 
per  cent  of  their  weight. 

The  very  large  salmon,  those  from  40  to 
50  pounds,  are  cock-fish,  generally  old 
bachelors,  gourmets  and  gourmands  that 
have  remained  in  the  sea  where  the  food  is 
good  and  plentiful  rather  than  undertake 
the  up-stream  struggle  with  perhaps  little  or 
no  food,  and  with  domestic  troubles  await- 
ing them  at  their  journey's  end. 

For  example,  the  61 -pound  cock-salmon 
taken  in  the  Tay  in  Scotland  on  July  13th, 
1902,  proved  by  its  scales  to  be  7  years  and 
2  months  old,  and  the  scales  also  showed 
that  it  was  this  salmon's  first  return  from 
the  sea. 

It  is  claimed  that  as  far  as  rivers  are  con- 


32        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

cerned  the  life  of  an  Atlantic  salmon  is  8 
years.  No  fish  have  been  taken  of  a  greater 
age. 


DO    SALMON   FEED    IN 
FRESH   WATER? 

"  AND  THOUGH  THIS  DISCOURSE  MAY  BE  LIABLE 
TO  SOME  EXCEPTIONS  YET  I  CANNOT  DOUBT  BUT 
THAT  MOST  READERS  MAY  RECEIVE  SO  MUCH  PLEAS- 
URE OR  PROFIT  BY  IT  AS  MAY  MAKE  IT  WORTH  THE 
TIME  OF  THEIR  PERUSAL,  IF  THEY  BE  NOT  TOO 
GRAVE  OR  TOO  BUSY   MEN." 

IZAAK   WALTON 


Do  Salmon  Feed  in  Fresh  Water? 

If  Not,  Why  do  They  Take  the  Fly? 

THESE  are  questions  that  will  probably 
never  be  answered  to  the  satisfaction  of  all 
anglers. 

It  is  claimed  that  salmon  come  up  a  river 
in  prime  condition  and  that  many  remain 
there  for  twelve  months  and  return  to  the 
sea  without  having  tasted  food.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  the  fish  lose  weight  while  in 
the  river  and  that  their  adipose  matter  is 
reduced  just  as  is  the  fat  of  hibernating 
fish  during  the  winter. 

This  is  a  wise  provision  of  nature,  for  the 
salmon  are  on  spawning  bent.  It  is  a  well- 
known  fact  that  half-starved  rabbits  are 
much  more  prolific  than  those  that  are  well 
fed. 

Losing  weight  may  also  mean  that  the 
food  obtainable  in  the  fresh  water  is  not 

35 


36        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

as  plentiful  or  as  nourishing  as  in  the  sea, 
yet  they  may  have  the  young  of  other  fish, 
worms,  small  eels  and  an  abundance  of  in- 
sect life  for  their  daily  fare. 

It  is  also  said  that  nothing  in  the  way  of 
partly  digested  food  is  ever  found  in  a  river 
salmon,  yet  fish  are  known  to  disgorge  dur- 
ing their  struggles  after  being  hooked. 

Salmon  fresh  from  the  sea  have  been  ex- 
amined in  great  numbers  to  decide  what 
they  feed  on.  The  staple  food  seems  to  be 
herring,  though  partly  digested  sand-eels, 
whiting,  and  haddock  have  been  also  found. 

In  the  receiving  pond  at  the  fish  hatchery 
on  the  Spey  in  Scotland  it  is  said  that  the 
salmon  become  intermittent  in  their  feeding 
with  the  first  frosts  of  autumn  and  consume 
very  little  food  in  mid-winter,  but  feed  well 
during  warmer  weather. 

It  was  also  observed  that  when  the  tem- 
perature of  the  water  rose  above  70°  the 
salmon  became  listless  and  in  thunder 
weather  they  would  not  rise  from  the  bottom 
of  the  pond. 


DO  SALMON  FEED  IN  FRESH  WATER?    37 

If  salmon  do  not  feed  why  do  they  rise 
and  take  a  fly?  Why  do  they  pursue  all 
moving  objects?  Why  should  a  salmon  fly 
be  manipulated  so  as  to  resemble  a  moving 
minnow  or  insect  and  why  should  jungle- 
cock  feathers  be  the  most  attractive  dressing 
for  a  fly  if  not  to  attract  the  light  as  scales 
do  on  a  small  fish? 

One  theory  is  that  the  salmon  enter  fresh 
water  for  one  purpose  alone  and  that  they 
desire  to  destroy  all  creatures  that  may  en- 
danger their  future  young.  This  would 
imply  much  forethought,  for  the  fish  enter 
the  Grand  Cascapedia  in  June  and  do  not 
spawn  until  November. 

Salmon  have  been  known  to  seize,  suck, 
and  eject  floating  butterflies  and  other  in- 
sects. Can  it  be  that  they  obtain  their 
sustenance  by  sucking  and  ejecting  their 
food  in  fresh  water  because  they  cannot  di- 
gest solids  owing  to  the  changes  that  occur 
in  the  stomach  and  alimentary  canal  of  the 
fresh  run  salmon? 

Is  it  not  possible  that  when  a  salmon  first 


38        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

enters  a  river  he  still  feels  hungry  and  has 
not  forgotten  the  feeding  habit?  He  may 
have  a  craving  for  food  yet  be  unable  to 
retain  it.  This  craving  may  cease  after  a 
time  yet  a  rise  of  water  and  a  change  of  pool 
may  renew  it.  The  "  slink  "  is  supposed  to 
have  been  in  the  river  for  a  year,  yet  he 
surely  shows  plenty  of  "  craving." 

It  is  said  that  salmon  are  more  aggressive 
than  voracious  and  that  it  is  anger,  annoy- 
ance, or  playfulness  that  makes  them  rise 
to  a  fly.  I  have  seen  them  pursue  a  fly  as 
if  in  hunger  and  when  they  could  not  be 
denied. 

All  anglers  will  admit  that  salmon  take 
more  readily  during  the  "  magic  hour  "  than 
at  any  other  time.  It  is  quite  possible  that 
they  may  have  a  preference  as  to  their 
favorite  hour  to  feed,  but  is  it  probable  that 
they  are  more  apt  to  be  annoyed  or  angry 
at  sundown  than  at  any  other  hour  of  the 
day? 


DO   SALMON   FEED   IN   FRESH   WATER?         39 

DO  THE  SALMON  ENTER  FRESH  WATER  FOR 
THE  SOLE  PURPOSE  OF  SPAWNING? 

I  believe  that  they  have  another  reason. 
Most  fish  love  warm  water  and  enjoy  the 
sunlight  —  in  fact,  love  to  bask  in  the  sun. 

After  a  winter  of  heavy  snowfall  the 
water  is  cold  and  the  salmon  are  late  in 
arriving,  but  if  the  snowfall  is  light  the  fish 
arrive  early. 

The  lower  waters  of  the  Grand  Casca- 
pedia,  being  fed  by  numerous  mountain 
brooks,  are  cold.  I  found  the  temperature 
of  the  water  rose  as  I  went  up  stream  and 
also  that  the  fish  in  the  upper  waters  had 
more  life  than  those  I  had  taken  in  the  cold 
water  below.  This  lack  of  energy  in  fresh 
run  fish  may  be  influenced  by  the  cold  water, 
or  the  fish  may  not  have  become  accustomed 
to  the  somewhat  sudden  change  from  salt 
to  fresh  water,  for  I  have  no  doubt  that  they 
are  affected  as  a  man  from  the  lowland 
would  be  who  suddenly  found  himself  in  a 
high  altitude. 

A  very  interesting  experiment  was  tried 


40        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

in  Scotland  in  1906.  "  Two  grilse  were 
taken  from  a  net  in  the  Bay  of  Nigg  and 
placed  in  sea  water  in  a  tank  at  the  fish 
hatchery  for  the  purpose  of  discovering  how 
long  sea  lice  will  remain  attached  to  salmon 
in  fresh  water.  The  density  of  the  water 
was  reduced  by  allowing  fresh  water  to 
enter.  This  operation  was  regulated  so  as 
to  represent  approximately  in  time  the 
period  of  one  flood  tide.  The  fish  showed 
considerable  distress  at  first,  from  which  it 
is  natural  to  suppose  that  the  transference 
to  brackish  water  was  too  rapid. 

"Dating  from  the  time  the  water  was 
quite  fresh  the  sea  lice  remained  on  one  fish 
for  four  days  and  on  the  other  for  five 
days."     ( Calderwood. ) 

This  experiment  shows  that  a  fish  taken 
in  the  upper  waters  with  one  or  two  sea  lice 
attached  may  have  been  at  least  three  or 
four  days  in  passing  from  the  tide. 

I  believe  that,  after  long  winter  months 
in  the  dark  deep  sea  not  very  far  from  the 
river   in    which   they   were    spawned,    the 


DO  SALMON  FEED  IN  FRESH  WATER?    41 

salmon  are  inspired  in  the  spring  by  the 
flow  of  water  from  the  rivers  to  return  to 
fresh  water. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  salmon  find 
warm  water  congenial.  The  upper  waters 
of  the  Grand  Cascapedia  run  through 
stretches  of  lowland  and  are  not  deep. 
They  are  well  exposed  to  the  rays  of  the  sun 
and  the  bottom  of  the  river  is  covered  with 
gravel  and  sand. 

At  Lazy  Bogan  in  the  Parson  and  Forks 
pools  the  fish  are  found  in  great  numbers. 
Here  they  are  known  to  spawn,  yet  they 
use  many  other  parts  of  the  river  for  a  like 
purpose.  May  it  not  be  the  warm  water 
and  a  summer  of  light  and  sunshine  that 
they  seek? 


MODERN    SALMON   FISHING 


THEY     THAT     OCCUPY     THEMSELVES     IN     DEEP 
WATERS  SEE   THE  WONDERFUL  WORKS   OF  GOD." 


MODERN   SALMON   FISHING 

BY  modern  salmon  fishing  I  mean  the 
present-day  form  of  fishing  from  a  canoe  on 
Canadian  rivers,  for  in  Scotland,  where  a 
man  must  wade  or  fish  from  the  bank  and 
is  often  obliged  to  cast  a  very  long  line,  the 
modern  light  rods  would  be  of  poor  service. 

In  canoe  fishing  the  sport  is  made  easy, 
for  after  a  fish  is  hooked  the  canoe  may  be 
moved  about  and  you  are  quickly  placed 
below  your  fish,  or  should  the  fish  take  down 
stream  you  may  follow  him  on  his  mad 
career. 

In  this  form  of  fishing  you  seldom  have 
to  cast  a  fly  more  than  twenty-five  yards. 
The  length  and  weight  of  a  rod  depend  on 
the  distance  it  is  necessary  to  cast  a  fly,  for 
after  hooking  a  fish  it  is  a  very  easy  matter 
to  end  the  struggle  in  short  ordjer  if  you 

45 


46        OBSERVATIONS   ON    A   SALMON   RIVER 

understand  handling  fish,  for  a  fresh  run 
salmon,  though  active,  is  not  a  strong 
fighting  fish  for  its  weight. 

Some  of  the  old-time  anglers  still  use  the 
English  wooden  rods  of  sixteen  feet  or  more 
in  length,  for  they  maintain  that  they  are 
superior  to  the  modern  light  split  bamboo 
grilse  rod.  Their  theory  is  that  the  latter 
is  too  quick  in  action  and  loses  many  strik- 
ing fish,  which  it  should  not  do  if  the  rod  is 
handled  with  the  light  hand  that  it  is  not 
possible  to  employ  with  a  heavy  rod.  I  find 
the  green-heart  rod  is  superior  in  a  strong 
wind,  for  it  has  more  power. 

The  wooden  rod,  though  more  brutal 
when  you  first  give  the  fish  the  butt,  is  not 
nearly  so  killing,  for  every  fibre  in  the 
bamboo  is  alive  and  at  work  all  the  time. 

The  modern  split  bamboo  grilse  rods  now 
in  use  are  fourteen  feet,  more  or  less,  in 
length  and  are  easy  to  handle  for  they  are 
well  balanced  and  weigh  from  16  to  24 
ounces. 

My  advice  to  a  beginner  using  these  rods 


MODERN    SALMON   FISHING  47 

is  to  banish  the  idea  that  the  salmon  rod  is  a 
two-handed  rod,  and  always  to  bear  in  mind 
the  fact  that  the  right  arm  and  the  rod  are 
as  one.  No  amount  of  energy  applied  to 
the  rod  by  the  left  hand  will  communicate 
itself  to  the  line.  The  left  hand  is  employed 
as  a  help  in  holding  the  rod,  in  fact  is  simply 
a  rod-rest. 

By  grasping  the  rod  firmly  with  the  right 
hand  at  the  upper  end  of  the  cork  handle, 
with  the  thumb  along  the  rod,  the  energy  of 
the  right  arm  is  communicated  to  the  rod. 
You  cannot  use  the  full  spring  of  the  rod 
unless  it  is  firmly  held.  This  may  not  be 
necessary  for  a  short  cast  but  for  a  long  line 
it  is  imperative. 

After  lifting  the  line  from  the  water  for 
the  back  cast  a  flip  of  the  left  thumb  to  the 
butt  at  the  right  moment  is  all  that  is  neces- 
sary, the  forward  cast  being  made  with  the 
right  hand  only. 


THEORY   AND    PRACTICE 


IN  WHICH  I  HAVE  PERFECT  CONFIDENCE,  AND  THIS 
IS  THAT  THE  TWO  WORDS  LEAST  APPROPRIATE  TO 
ANY      STATEMENT      ABOUT      IT,      ARE      THE      WORDS 

SIR  EDWARD  GREY 


THEORY   AND   PRACTICE 

WHEN  a  beginner  undertakes  to  purchase 
his  outfit  for  salmon  fishing  he  is  bewildered 
by  the  numerous  patterns  and  sizes  of  flies 
that  are  displayed,  and  usually  supplies 
himself  with  a  greater  number  than  he  can 
possibly  need. 

In  the  olden  days  so  many  patterns  and 
sizes  of  flies  were  not  in  use,  for  the  anglers 
did  not  fish  unless  the  conditions  were  favor- 
able. When  they  did  fish  it  was  not  ma- 
terial whether  the  flies  were  large  or  small. 

Nowadays  it  has  become  the  custom  to 
fish  the  same  waters  every  day  for  a  month 
or  more  and  the  tackle  experts  have  en- 
deavored to  defeat  low  water  and  bad 
weather  conditions  by  making  the  tackle  and 
flies  more  delicate  and  smaller. 

The  flies  you  use  depend  greatly  on  what 
you  believe  the  salmon  fly  represents. 

51 


52        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER' 

Whether  a  salmon  fly  in  play  represents 
an  insect  or  prawn  or  whether  it  resembles 
a  minnow  or  stickleback  is  a  matter  of 
opinion  as  is  also  the  question  as  to  whether 
a  salmon  rises  and  takes  a  fly  from  playful- 
ness or  because  it  annoys  him. 

The  theory  that  a  salmon  rises  at  times 
from  playfulness  or  annoyance  is  quite  true 
but  in  that  case  he  either  noses  the  fly  or 
strikes  at  it  with  his  tail,  which  in  a  measure 
accounts  for  many  a  foul-hooked  fish. 

I  have  never  seen  a  fish  of  any  kind  take 
anything  in  his  mouth  from  playfulness  or 
because  it  annoyed  him.  When  he  does  so 
it  is  because  he  thinks  it  edible  and  because 
he  wants  to  eat  it. 

Kelson  says  in  his  book  "  The  Salmon 
Fly  "  :  "I  have  never  yet  heard  or  seen  in 
print  any  single  statement  from  a  first-class 
salmon  angler  calculated  to  support  the  pre- 
vailing idea  that  salmon  fancy  our  flies  rep- 
resent living  things  on  which  they  feed  and 
fatten  in  the  sea." 

As  it  is  not  known  where  the  salmon  go 


THEORY  AND   PRACTICE  53 

when  they  leave  the  mouth  of  the  river,  nor 
where  they  dwell  during  the  winter  months, 
it  is  difficult  to  decide  what  they  feed  on. 
One  thing  is  plain,  a  full-grown  salmon  is  a 
square-tailed  fish  and  therefore  is  a  bottom 
feeder. 

It  seems  certain  that  salmon  have  a  sense 
of  colour.  Experiments  have  been  made  in 
aquariums  that  prove  conclusively  that  fish 
can  distinguish  one  colour  from  another. 

Many  male  fish  are  of  very  gaudy  colours, 
supposedly  for  the  purpose  of  attracting 
the  females,  and  some  fish,  the  flounders  for 
example,  have  the  power  of  changing  their 
colours  to  suit  their  environment.  These 
things  would  hardly  be  if  fish  were  colour 
blind,  yet  I  hardly  believe  that  salmon  are 
sensitive  to  slight  variations  of  colour,  not- 
withstanding that  flies  that  are  successful 
on  one  river  may  fail  when  used  on  another 
stream. 

Some  writers  have  pointed  out  that  the 
prevailing  colour  of  the  bottom  of  a  pool 
affects  the  coloration  of  the  fly  and  that  it 


54        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

is  more  important  than  the  appearance  of 
the  sky. 

A  dark  fly  shows  better  on  a  dark  day, 
while  in  bright  weather  a  fly  of  many  colours 
is  more  easily  seen.  The  Black  Dose  is 
a  good  fly  late  in  the  evening  for  the  same 
reason  that  a  black  flag  can  more  easily  be 
seen  on  a  dark  night  than  a  white  one. 

It  is  a  well-known  custom  to  use  large 
flies  on  heavy  water  and  small  flies  on  light 
water. 

If  you  rise  a  fish  and  rest  him  it  is  usual 
to  change  the  fly  to  one  of  smaller  size.  On 
the  Grand  Cascapedia,  however,  it  is  the 
custom  in  this  case  to  increase  the  size  of 
the  fly. 

Salmon  are  monocular  and  often  drowsy, 
for  they  travel  by  night  and  rest  in  the  day- 
time, so  they  often  do  not  see  the  flies  that 
are  presented  to  them. 

The  patterns  and  sizes  of  flies  are  prob- 
ably of  more  importance  to  the  anglers  than 
to  the  fish.  One  of  our  best  fishermen  has 
used  the  Dusty  Miller  exclusively  for  many 


THEORY   AND   PRACTICE  55 

years  and  has  killed  as  many  if  not  more 
fish  than  anyone  on  the  river. 

Last  season  I  fished  with  a  Griswold 
Gray  4/0  for  a  few  days  and  did  not  change 
it  under  any  circumstances.  With  it  I  took 
16  salmon  that  averaged  25  pounds.  Had 
I  changed  the  fly  at  times  or  fished  with  one 
of  smaller  size,  for  the  4/0  was  theoretically 
several  sizes  too  large  for  the  water  condi- 
tions, I  might  have  taken  a  few  more  fish 
but  they  probably  would  have  been  smaller 
ones. 

The  saying  "  the  larger  the  fly  the  larger 
the  fish  "  does  not  mean  that  you  cannot 
take  a  large  fish  on  a  small  fly,  but  that  you 
will  take  fewer  of  them. 

With  a  stiff  rod  and  a  sound  cast  you  can 
put  a  great  strain  on  a  well-hooked  fish,  yet 
there  is  no  doubt  that  most  anglers  are 
afraid  of  their  gut  and  allow  fish  to  sulk  by 
being  too  easy  with  them.  More  fish  are 
lost  by  gentle  handling  than  by  vigorous 
treatment. 

You  can  cure  a  jumping  fish  of  his  aero- 


56        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

batics  by  lowering  the  tip  of  the  rod.  The 
weight  of  the  sunken  line  will  keep  the  fish 
down. 

The  time-worn  theory  that  an  angler  must 
lower  the  tip  of  his  rod  whenever  a  salmon 
jumps  seems  strange  to  me,  yet  it  is  the 
general  belief  that  a  fish  jumps  for  the  pur- 
pose of  breaking  the  cast  by  falling  on  it  or 
by  striking  it  with  his  tail. 

A  salmon  seldom  gives  notice  that  he  is 
about  to  jump,  so  that  when  he  leaves  the 
water  he  is  back  in  the  stream  again  before 
you  can  possibly  give  him  the  fancied  slack 
that  is  supposed  to  be  necessary,  especially 
as  in  most  cases  the  current  intervenes  and 
takes  the  slack  before  it  reaches  the  fish. 
Unless  the  fish  is  on  a  very  short  line  I 
cannot  see  how  lowering  the  rod  can  have 
any  beneficial  result. 


O 

n 
c 
a 
r 
PI 
< 


WEATHER 


sow 


HE    THAT    CONSIDERS    THE    WIND   SHALL   NEVER 


WEATHER 

THE  condition  of  the  water  is  more  im- 
portant than  weather  conditions,  for  salmon 
have  been  known  to  take  in  all  kinds  of 
weather. 

At  times  the  weather  does  not  seem  to 
matter;  even  an  east  wind  will  not  interfere 
with  the  fishing;  at  other  times  when  wind 
and  weather  seem  right  the  fish  refuse  to 
rise. 

Calm  settled  weather  with  a  light  breeze 
from  the  southwest,  or  what  the  natives 
call  a  "  good  haying  day,"  seems  to  afford 
the  best  sport. 

Fish  will  not  rise  when  a  thunderstorm 
is  brewing  but  often  take  readily  the  mo- 
ment the  storm  breaks. 

If  it  is  certain  that  salmon  are  in  the  river, 
it  is  wise  not  to  allow  any  condition  of  the 
weather  to  interfere  with  one's  fishing. 

59 


60        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

When  seafishing  I  have  often  found  the 
first  day  of  the  new  moon  the  best  day's 
fishing  during  the  month.  There  is  a  special 
movement  of  the  waters  at  that  time  with 
very  high,  strong  tides.  This  may  mean 
more  food  for  the  fish  or  more  desire  to  feed. 
The  new  moon  affects  and  increases  the 
activity  of  all  fish. 

For  seafishing  I  always  select  from  the 
new  to  the  full  moon,  for  the  reason  that 
fish  feed  at  night,  which  has  some  effect  on 
the  sport. 

On  a  day  following  a  moon-lit  night  fish 
are  less  hungry  than  on  a  day  after  a  dark 
night.  At  the  time  of  the  new  moon  there 
are  two  flood  tides  during  daylight,  which 
is  an  advantage,  because  the  first  of  the  flood 
is  the  best  time  of  the  tide  to  fish  for  seafish. 

I  have  found  that,  providing  the  weather 
and  water  conditions  are  not  too  bad,  the 
day  of  the  new  moon  is  usually  a  good  day's 
salmon  fishing  on  a  river. 

Why  this  is  would  be  difficult  to  explain. 
It  is  probable  the  fish  are  inspired  by  a 


WEATHER  61 

remembrance  of  their  sea  life,  or  perhaps  it 
may  be  that  the  change  of  the  moon  having 
started  them  up  stream,  a  change  of  pool 
may  encourage  them  to  take. 


ANGLING  FOR  SALMON  WITH 
A  " DOPED "  FLY 

YOU  MAY  FOOL  SOME  FISH  SOMETIMES 

BUT  YOU   CANNOT  FOOL  ALL  FISH  ALL  THE  TIME 


ANGLING  FOR  SALMON  WITH 
A  "  DOPED  "  FLY 

I  HAVE  for  years  been  a  great  believer 
in  the  acute  smelling  powers  of  fish.  These 
powers  I  have  often  tested  when  seafishing. 

If  on  a  still  day  you  see  the  dorsal  fin  of 
a  leisurely  swimming  shark  on  the  surface 
of  the  ocean,  you  may  always  inspire  the 
shark  with  new  life  by  pouring  fresh  fish 
blood  into  the  sea.  The  shark  will  at  once 
become  alert  and  begin  to  hunt  the  blood- 
scent  until  he  finally  discovers  its  source. 

Then  again,  when  anchored  and  fishing 
for  bonefish,  after  having  distributed  the 
crab-meat  chum,  you  will  often  see  a  school 
of  bonefish  hunting  the  smell  of  the  chum 
as  a  pack  of  hounds  hunt  the  cold  scent  of 
a  fox,  quartering  to  the  right  and  to  the  left 
until  they  eventually  hit  the  line  and  find 
what  they  are  looking  for. 

65 


66        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

Knowing  that  the  trappers  in  the  north- 
ern woods  lead  their  prey  to  their  baited 
traps  with  "  charm  oil,"  I  conceived  the 
idea  that  fish  might  be  enticed  in  a  like 
manner. 

This  was  difficult  in  seafishing  as  the  fric- 
tion caused  by  trolling  a  bait  through  the 
water  destroyed  the  odor  of  the  "  charm- 
oil,"  but  in  fly-fishing  I  found  it  quite 
simple. 

My  first  attempt  was  when  fishing  on  a 
salmon  river  in  Canada.  The  river  was  low 
and  the  water  quite  clear.  I  had  been  fish- 
ing over  a  salmon  of  fair  size  that  could 
readily  be  seen  lying  on  the  bottom  close  to 
a  large  stone. 

After  trying  different  flies  as  well  as  dif- 
ferent sizes  of  flies  with  no  result,  I  handed 
the  rod  to  my  canoeman,  an  old  and  very 
experienced  fisherman,  and  told  him  to  have 
a  try.  He  used  all  his  powers  of  persuasion 
to  entice  the  fish  but  with  no  success. 

As  he  handed  me  my  rod  I  said:  "  Now 
I  shall  show  you  how  to  take  that  fish." 


§ 

m 
o 

en 

X 


ANGLING   WITH   A       DOPED       FLY         67 

I  anointed  the  fly  he  had  been  fishing  with 
by  placing  a  drop  of  "  charm-oil "  on  the 
hackle  of  the  fly.  On  my  second  cast  I  rose, 
hooked,  and  landed  a  24-pound  salmon. 
This  was  not  chance  for  it  happened  on 
several  occasions  in  a  like  manner,  rising 
fish  that  would  not  look  at  an  "  un-doped  " 

%• 

The  last  day  on  the  river  that  season 
found  me,  after  three  days  of  heavy  rain, 
stormbound  at  a  camp  up-stream,  with  all 
the  experts  insisting  that  no  fishing  was 
possible. 

The  water  had  risen  seven  inches  since 
eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  three  feet 
since  the  rain  began,  and  it  was  still  rising 
at  one  when  we  started  down-stream. 

A  heavy  fog  overhung  the  river  and  the 
water  was  of  the  colour  and  consistency  of 
pea-soup,  a  combination  of  every  adverse 
condition  possible  for  sport. 

I  proposed  stopping  at  a  choice  pool  on 
the  way  down-stream,  for,  I  said,  I  wished 
to  take  a  few  fish  home. 


68        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

I  was  laughed  at  by  the  canoeman  but, 
being  more  of  a  fisherman  than  an  angler 
and  having  no  prejudices,  I  insisted. 

When  we  reached  the  pool  we  found  the 
water  very  high  and  running  strong.  I 
could  hear  the  small  stones  rolling  along  the 
bottom  of  the  pool,  and  the  partly  sub- 
merged branches  of  the  bushes  on  the  banks 
were  dancing  back  and  forth  as  the  current 
swept  by. 

The  canoeman  said:  "  There  ain't  no  fish 
in  this  pool;  don't  you  hear  the  stones  a- 
rolling? "  I  replied  that  they  must  be 
somewhere  about  the  pool  as  I  saw  no  salmon 
on  the  bank  and  that  fish  were  not  known  to 
climb  trees. 

The  killig  was  dropped  close  to  the  bushes 
at  the  edge  of  the  pool  and,  casting  a  well 
"  doped  "  fly  down-stream,  I  rose,  hooked, 
and  landed  three  salmon  of  12,  26  and  35 
pounds,  the  only  fish  taken  on  the  river  that 
day. 

The  canoe  could  not  be  moved  about 
owing  to  the  rapid  current  and,  as  I  was 


ANGLING   WITH   A       DOPED       FLY         69 

fishing  with  a  light  grilse  rod,  it  was  no  easy- 
matter  to  handle  the  two  heavy  fish. 

Later  on  I  discovered  the  following  in 
"  The  Northwest  Coast,"  a  book  by  James 
G.  Swan  published  in  1857.  Writing  of 
salmon  fishing  in  Shoal  Water  Bay,  Wash- 
ington Territory,  he  says:  "  When  the  fish 
were  shy  or  the  Indians  unsuccessful  they 
would  rub  their  hooks  with  the  root  of  wild 
celery  which  has  a  very  aromatic  smell  and 
is  believed  by  the  Indians  to  be  very  grateful 
to  the  salmon  and  sure  to  attract  them.  I 
have  also  seen  the  Indians  at  Chenook  rub 
the  celery  root  into  their  nets  for  the  same 
purpose  though  I  have  never  tried  its  effects 
and  have  some  doubts  about  its  value," 


FISHING  FOR  SALMON  WITH 
A  DRY-FLY 

AS    NO     MAN    IS    BORN    AN    ARTIST,    SO    NO    MAN 
BORN   AN   ANGLER. 

IZAAK    WALTON 


FISHING  FOR  SALMON  WITH 
A  DRY-FLY 

FOR  several  seasons  a  few  experts  have 
been  taking  salmon  with  a  dry-fly  with  great 
success.  This  requires  much  skill  and  can 
only  be  accomplished  under  certain  circum- 
stances. 

The  river  must  be  low  and  clear  and  the 
water  temperature  above  60°.  The  water 
must  be  clear  so  that  the  angler  may  locate 
his  fish  and  then  place  his  fly  on  top  of  the 
water  and  allow  it  to  float  down  directly 
over  the  salmon.  This  must  be  done  in  such 
a  manner  that  the  fish  cannot  see  the  gut 
cast.  It  is  wise  for  the  angler  to  stand  be- 
low the  fish  and  cast  up-stream  at  an  angle 
of  forty-five  degrees. 

The  flies  used  are  enlarged  patterns  of 
trout  dry-flies  tied  on  No.  8  hooks.     The  fly 

73 


74        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

must  float  well  up  on  the  water  and  be  a 
real  dry-fly.  The  line  and  cast  are  made  to 
float  by  an  application  of  deer's  fat  and  the 
fly  is  oiled  with  a  mixture  of  equal  parts  of 
albolene  and  kerosene. 

The  trout  cast  used  should  be  at  least  fif- 
teen feet  in  length  and  should  pull  from 
three  to  four  pounds.  The  rod  used  is  10 
feet  6  inches  long  and  weighs  about  7  ounces. 

In  this  manner  it  is  possible  to  take 
salmon  in  low  water  from  mirrorlike  pools 
where  no  fish  have  ever  been  known  to  rise 
to  legitimate  salmon  flies. 

The  above  mentioned  methods  are  those 
employed  by  Mr.  Edward  R.  Hewitt,  who 
is  a  most  skillful  dry-fly  fisherman.  In  this 
manner  he  and  five  friends  took  40  fish  in 
one  day  from  a  pool  at  Kedgewick  on  the 
Restigouche  River  last  June.  These  waters 
had  been  fished  blank  during  the  six  preced- 
ing days,  although  the  fish  were  there  in 
great  numbers,  but,  owing  to  the  low  and 
clear  water,  they  had  refused  to  rise  to  any 
known  salmon  fly. 


N 
"< 

DO 

C 

o 
> 
z 


FISHING   WITH   A   DRY-FLY  75 

Mr.  Hewitt's  opinion  on  this  subject  is: 
"  My  recent  experience  has  confirmed  me 
in  the  opinion  that  the  regular  salmon  fish- 
ing methods  in  low  clear  water  when  it  is 
above  60°  is  the  worst  possible  way  to  take 
salmon.  Regular  salmon  flies  under  these 
circumstances  are  the  poorest  type  that  can 
be  used.     Any  trout  dry-fly  will  do  better." 

This  seems  to  mean  that  whatever  it  is 
that  a  salmon  fly  represents  to  the  eyes  of 
a  salmon,  it  cannot  be  made  to  look  natural 
in  clear,  low,  dead  water,  and  that  a  dry-fly 
representing  an  insect  does  look  natural 
under  those  circumstances. 

If  salmon  rise  from  playfulness  or  annoy- 
ance why  should  they  refuse  to  look  at  the 
one,  yet  rise  and  take  the  other? 

The  angler  must  be  prepared  to  lose 
many  fish,  for  a  small  fly  to  float  well  must 
be  tied  on  a  small  hook  which  can  have  but 
a  weak  hold  unless  it  fastens  in  a  tough  part 
of  the  fish's  mouth. 

In  rapid  water  it  is  not  necessary  to  strike 
a  fish  if  your  line  is  taut,  the  weight  of  the 


76        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

fish  and  the  strength  of  the  water  are  suf- 
ficient to  drive  the  hook  home,  but  to  hook  a 
fish  that  has  risen  to  a  floating  fly  it  is  neces- 
sary to  strike.  It  is  impossible  to  float  a 
dry-fly  naturally  without  the  line  being 
slack  and  a  fish  cannot  be  hooked  on  a  slack 
line. 


THE  BIG  SALMON  AT  MIDDLE 
CAMP 


"  I  WAS  FOR  THAT  TIME   LIFTED  ABOVE   EARTH 


THE  BIG  SALMON  AT  MIDDLE 
CAMP 

ALTHOUGH  in  the  month  of  June  it  was 
still  spring,  and  the  awakening  of  nature 
could  be  observed  on  all  sides  as  I  walked 
along  the  eight  miles  of  river  path  between 
New  Derreen  and  Middle  Camp. 

The  light  green  leaves  of  the  birch  and 
maple  trees,  and  the  dark  foliage  of  spruce 
and  pine,  made  a  delightful  contrast  of 
colour,  and  the  air  was  heavy  with  the  scent 
of  the  expanding  buds  of  the  balsam  poplars. 

The  wood  grouse,  though  quite  tame, 
hustled  their  broods  into  the  underbrush  and 
the  red  squirrels  chattered  and  scolded  as  I 
passed  them  by. 

Wherever  a  little  sunlight  could  filter 
through  the  thick  foliage,  the  path  was 
fringed  by  the  delicate  pink  blossoms  of  the 

79 


80        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

twin  flower  (Linnsea  borealis)  or  the  white 
shinleaf  (Pyrola  elliptica)  and  in  the  damp 
places  moss  and  ferns  filled  the  spaces  be- 
tween the  bushes. 

There  is  an  acre  of  cleared  land  at  Middle 
Camp ;  here  the  grass  was  full  of  forget-me- 
nots  run  wild.  These  flowers  have  spread 
along  the  river  from  a  small  flower  bed 
planted  in  front  of  the  house  some  years  ago. 

When  I  arrived  I  found  the  Camp  occu- 
pied by  two  members  of  the  Club  who  were 
busy  fishing  the  best  water  of  the  Grand 
Cascapedia  River.  They  proposed  to  move 
up-stream  the  following  morning  and  the 
fishing  was  then  to  be  mine  for  three  days. 

I  sat  on  the  porch  all  the  evening  watch- 
ing the  celebrated  "  424  "  pool  which  is  just 
in  front  of  the  house. 

This  pool  was  named  by  an  angler  in  the 
dim  past  who  succeeded  one  afternoon  in 
taking  four  salmon  there,  each  of  which 
weighed  exactly  24  pounds.  It  is  a  good 
pool  and  affords  great  sport.  On  one  occa- 
sion I  was  fortunate  there  also,  for  I  rose 


THE   BIG   SALMON    AT   MIDDLE    CAMP         81 

and  landed  five  fish  that  averaged  25§ 
pounds  —  27,  27,  26,  26,  22. 

The  pool  has  changed  in  late  years  and 
the  lower  part  has  now  a  mirrorlike  surface, 
for  owing  to  the  ice  and  freshets  of  early 
spring  it  has  become  filled  with  stones  and 
rubble. 

A  point  of  rocks  juts  out  into  the  pool 
from  the  right  bank  of  the  river  and  just 
below  this  reef  the  water  is  over  three  fath- 
oms deep.  This  deep  hole  extends  for 
quite  a  distance  up-stream,  and  its  upper 
edge  shelves  up  gradually  into  rapid  run- 
ning water. 

It  is  here  in  this  rapid  water  that  the 
salmon  lie  when  the  river  is  of  normal  height, 
but  if  the  water  is  low,  the  fish  drop  back 
into  the  deep  hole  below  the  rock. 

As  I  sat  watching  the  pool  I  saw  a  large 
fish  rise  from  time  to  time  below  the  rock, 
apparently  attracted  by  the  foam  and  air 
bubbles  coming  from  the  swirl  of  the  waters, 
which  was  caused  by  the  flow  of  the  strong 
current  against  the  point  of  rocks. 


82        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

It  was  late  in  the  evening  and  the  sun 
had  gone  down  behind  the  mountains  cast- 
ing a  heavy  shadow  across  the  waters. 

I  watched  hoping  to  see  someone  take  that 
rising  fish.  It  was  not  long  before  one  of 
my  friends  appeared  coming  down  stream 
for  the  purpose  of  fishing  424  during  the 
magic  hour  after  sunset. 

The  river  was  low  and  the  rough  water 
in  the  upper  part  of  the  pool  was  fished 
blank.  I  then  had  the  satisfaction  of  watch- 
ing the  angler  try  the  deep  hole  where  the 
big  fish  was  still  making  himself  seen  from 
time  to  time. 

The  angler  was  fishing  with  a  very  long 
line,  yet  from  where  his  canoe  was  anchored 
it  was  not  possible  quite  to  reach  the  spot 
where  the  fish  had  shown. 

The  line  was  also  in  my  opinion  too  long 
to  enable  the  fisherman  to  manipulate  the 
fly  in  a  way  to  attract  the  fish  in  such  water, 
for  the  stream  whirls  around  in  a  circle 
below  the  reef  where  the  fish  was  rising. 

We  dined  at  nine  o'clock  and  parted  in 


r 

4-* 


THE  BIG   SALMON  AT   MIDDLE   CAMP         83 

the  morning,  my  friends  going  up-stream 
to  Tracadie  after  wishing  me  good  luck  with 
the  big  fish. 

I  fished  the  pools  above  the  Camp  in  the 
morning  and  left  424  for  the  evening's  fish- 
ing. I  had  the  same  trouble  my  friend  had 
encountered  the  night  before.  The  long 
line  bothered  me  and  I  felt  that  the  motion 
of  the  fly  was  not  as  it  should  be,  for  the 
weight  of  the  line  prevented  the  proper  ac- 
tion I  desired.  Late  in  the  evening,  some 
distance  above  where  I  had  seen  the  big  fish 
rise,  I  hooked  a  fine  fighting  fish  that 
weighed  33  pounds,  and  was  greatly  pleased 
with  my  success,  but  shortly  after  landing 
from  the  canoe  I  saw  the  giant  again,  still 
hunting  bubbles.  It  was  too  dark  by  this 
time  to  continue  to  fish  with  any  pleasure. 

The  following  day  I  fished  down-stream 
and  rested  424.  I  took  two  salmon  in  Big 
Camp  Pool,  24  and  21  pounds  in  weight, 
and  on  my  return  to  Middle  Camp  watched 
the  big  fish  for  half  an  hour.  He  was  tak- 
ing his  usual  exercise,  rising  about  every  six 


84        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

minutes,  and  I  was  greatly  tempted  to  try 
him,  but  thought  it  better  to  wait  until  the 
following  day. 

Having  thought  the  matter  over  I  con- 
sulted my  canoeman.  We  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  if  we  were  to  entice  that  fish  it 
must  be  done  with  the  full  sun  shining  on 
the  pool,  as  the  salmon  was  lying  in  very 
deep  water. 

I  also  insisted  that  I  must  be  so  placed 
that  I  would  not  have  to  cast  more  than 
fifteen  yards.  This  I  was  told  was  impos- 
sible for  the  water  was  too  deep  for  the 
killig  to  hold. 

I  asked  my  man  if  he  thought  his  killig- 
rope  was  all  the  rope  there  was  in  the  world 
and  he  replied:  "  No,  but  it  is  all  I  have." 
I  then  told  him  to  take  the  rope  from  the 
baggage  canoe  and  tie  it  on  to  his  canoe 
rope.  When  this  had  been  done  and  the 
sun  was  sufficiently  high  to  flood  the  pool 
with  sunlight  we  proceeded  to  fish. 

The  water  was  very  clear  so  I  used  a  light 
No.  3  "  Telerafia  "  cast.     These  casts  have 


THE   BIG   SALMON   AT   MIDDLE   CAMP         85 

no  knots,  which  is  a  great  advantage  in  thin 
water.  I  selected  a  double  4/0  "  Griswold 
Gray  "  fly  for  two  reasons.  In  the  first 
place  on  account  of  its  weight,  for  I  wanted 
the  fly  to  sink,  and  in  the  second  place,  be- 
cause I  believe  the  double  hook  plays  on  a 
level  keel  and  resembles  a  living  object, 
which  is  an  advantage  in  clear  water. 

We  dropped  the  killig  where  the  deep 
water  begins  and  gave  the  canoe  sufficient 
rope  to  place  me  about  seventy-five 
feet  from  where  the  salmon  had  been 
showing. 

I  had  to  "  trout-fish,"  in  other  words, 
instead  of  casting  in  the  usual  manner  and 
allowing  the  stream  to  carry  the  fly,  owing 
to  the  whirlpool  action  of  the  water,  it  had 
to  be  placed  directly  above  the  fish. 

After  a  few  casts  the  fish  rose  but  I  was 
not  satisfied  that  he  had  been  attracted  by 
the  fly  so  kept  on  casting,  gently  working 
the  fly  and  allowing  it  to  sink. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  great  boil  as  the 
salmon  took  the  fly  below  the  surface. 


86        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

My  rod  bent  and  vibrated  under  the 
struggles  of  a  well-hooked  fish.  He  soon 
resented  the  strain  on  his  liberty  and  made 
a  bold  dash  for  the  opposite  side  of  the  pool 
and  jumped  clear  of  the  surface,  showing 
his  big  silver  body  which  glistened  in  the 
strong  sunlight. 

As  he  fell  back  into  the  river  he  dwelt  a 
second  and  then  forged  a  long  way  up- 
stream taking  most  of  my  line.  He  had 
travelled  far  and  his  instinct  no  doubt  told 
him  in  what  direction  the  spawning  beds 
were. 

My  respect  for  this  salmon  had  already 
greatly  increased;  I  therefore  played  the 
fish  with  more  than  usual  care  and  patience 
but  kept  him  moving,  yet  my  casting  line 
was  so  light  that  I  dared  not  take  any 
liberties. 

He  stopped  and  jumped  again  and  then 
swam  in  large  but  decreasing  circles  around 
the  pool. 

As  he  came  into  full  sight  I  noticed  that 
he  was  followed  by  a  great  stream  of  blood 


THE  BIG  SALMON 


THE  BIG  SALMON   AT   MIDDLE   CAMP         87 

and  appreciated  that  he  had  been  hooked  in 
the  gills. 

The  time  came  when  the  question  of  how 
to  gaff  the  fish  had  to  be  considered.  I 
cautioned  my  man  to  wait  until  I  told  him 
to  gaff  for  I  felt  that  if  he  missed  I  would 
lose  the  fish. 

I  played  the  salmon  until  there  was  not 
much  kick  left  in  him  and  then  told  my  man 
to  gaff. 

We  found  the  fish  had  taken  the  fly  with 
such  gusto  that  it  was  imbedded  deep  down 
in  the  gills.  He  must  have  lost  at  least  a 
pound  of  blood  during  his  death  struggles. 
As  it  was  he  weighed  43  pounds,  was 
49  inches  in  length  and  26^  inches  in  girth, 
with  a  tail  spread  of  10  inches.  Time,  20 
minutes. 

He  was  a  cock  fish  in  prime  condition, 
whereas  the  33-pound  salmon  I  had  taken 
from  the  same  hole  was  a  female.  They 
were  no  doubt  an  affianced  pair  on  a  journey 
to  their  Gretna  Green. 

A  keen  observer  will  notice  when  he  takes 


88        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON  RIVER 

a  pair  of  salmon  from  the  same  spot  in  a 
pool  that  it  is  usually  the  female  that  is 
landed  first.  It  seems  to  be  a  question  of 
ladies  before  gentlemen  with  the  king  of 
river  fishes. 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER 

BY 

The  Marquess  of  Lansdowne,  K.G. 


REPRINTED  BY  COURTESY  OF 

Blackwood's  Magazine 
November,  1921 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER 

I  FIRST  heard  of  the  Grand  Cascapedia 
when,  many  long  years  ago,  I  was  fishing 
on  the  river  Tay  in  company  with  my  old 
friend  Edward  Russell,  afterwards  Lord  de 
Clifford,  and  Mr.  William  Oakley,  the  well- 
known  Master  of  the  Atherstone  Hounds. 
We  were,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  "  harling,"  a 
form  of  fishing  now  generally  discarded  on 
that  splendid  river.  One  morning  whilst  we 
were  being  rowed  to  and  fro  across  the  pool, 
Edward  Russell  pulled  out  of  his  pocket  a 
letter  from  the  Hon.  Charles  Ellis,  who  may, 
I  suppose,  be  regarded  as  the  pioneer  of  the 
Cascapedia,  giving  an  account  of  the  sport 
which  he  had  been  having.  I  have  since 
seen  the  full  figures  of  which  these  were 
only  a  portion,  but  even  these  were  tremen- 
dous and  took  my  breath  away.    There  were 

91 


02         OBSERVATIONS   ON    A   SALMON   RIVER 

days  when  Ellis,  to  his  own  rod,  accounted 
for  15,  16,  or  17  fish.  I  was  told  long  after- 
wards by  his  principal  boatman  that  those 
were  days  in  which  "  the  canoes  ran  blood." 
Ellis's  description  made  a  great  impression 
on  my  mind,  but  the  whole  affair  seemed 
very  far  off,  and  my  fishing  horizon  at  the 
time  did  not  extend  beyond  our  own  Tay, 
my  first  and  last  love  in  the  fishing  line. 
An  Eastern  proverb  has  it  that  "  the  crow 
of  one's  own  country  is  better  than  the 
Phoenix  of  a  foreign  land,"  and  I  have  prob- 
ably had  more  satisfaction  in  my  time  out 
of  a  red  fish  killed  where  Tay  and  Isla  join 
their  streams,  than  even  out  of  the  silvery 
monsters  of  the  Canadian  river. 

But  events  subsequently  brought  me 
much  closer  to  the  Cascapedia.  In  1883  I 
was  offered,  and  accepted,  the  Governor- 
Generalship  of  Canada.  During  the  weeks 
which  preceded  my  departure,  I  received  a 
number  of  invaluable  letters  from  my  pre- 
decessor, Lord  Lome,  who  was  good  enough 
to  give  me  many  useful  hints  about  men  and 


2 
5 

> 

9 


£M 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  93 

things  in  the  Dominion.  The  picture  which 
he  drew  was  a  most  attractive  one,  and  in 
the  foreground  a  prominent  place  was  occu- 
pied by  the  glorious  river  which  had  been 
placed  at  the  disposal  of  his  Royal  Consort, 
H.R.H.  Princess  Louise  —  a  river  which 
was,  Lord  Lome  evidently  thought,  likely 
to  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  new  Governor- 
General.  But  just  as  we  were  leaving 
England  our  high  hopes  were  rudely  dashed. 
In  the  last  letter  which  Lord  Lome  wrote 
to  me  he  imparted  the  sad  intelligence  that 
the  Grand  Cascapedia  was  to  be  leased  by 
the  Quebec  Government  to  a  syndicate,  and 
that  he  was  therefore  interesting  himself  in 
securing  for  me  another  river  —  probably 
one  of  those  which  flow  into  the  Baie  des 
Chaleurs  towards  the  eastern  end  of  the 
Gaspe  Peninsula. 

Our  disappointment  was  great.  I  found, 
however,  on  my  arrival  in  Canada,  that  the 
transaction  with  the  syndicate  had  not  been 
consummated,  and  I  set  to  work  at  once  to 
retrieve  the  situation.     I  was  greatly  as- 


94        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

sisted  by  Sir  Hector  Langevin,  a  prominent 
Quebecker  and  an  influential  member  of  Sir 
John  Macdonald's  ministry.  Through  Sir 
Hector  I  put  forward  the  suggestion  that 
if  the  river,  which  had  been  a  free  gift  to 
my  predecessor,  was  to  be  let,  I  should  like 
to  be  considered  as  a  possible  tenant  for  it. 
The  negotiations  proceeded  favourably,  and 
as  the  result  I  obtained  a  lease  of  the  river; 
all  but  the  lower  and  least  interesting  pools, 
at  a  very  moderate  rent. 

A  few  words  as  to  the  geography  of  the 
country  through  which  the  Grand  Casca- 
pedia  flows.  It  enters  the  Baie  des  Chaleurs 
about  half-way  between  the  head  and  the 
mouth  of  the  bay,  and  is  called  the  "  Grand  " 
Cascapedia,  to  distinguish  it  from  a  smaller 
and  much  inferior  river  —  the  "  little  "  Cas- 
capedia—  which  immediately  adjoins  it. 
As  it  nears  the  sea  at  New  Richmond  it 
traverses  a  sparsely  inhabited  region  occu- 
pied by  farmers  who  have  settled  on  the 
alluvial  land.  Many  of  these  have  suc- 
ceeded in  acquiring,  with  their  farms,  the 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  95 

right  to  erect  stake  nets.  There  seemed  to 
be  any  number  of  them,  and  one  wondered 
how  any  fish  could  run  the  gauntlet ;  but  the 
nets  were  fortunately  very  ramshackle  af- 
fairs, and  judging  from  the  number  of  net- 
marked  fish  claimed  by  the  rod  in  the  upper 
waters,  many  of  them  must  have  smashed 
their  way  successfully  through  the  obstruc- 
tions. These  nets  have,  I  believe,  been  got 
rid  of,  and  the  rod-fishing  must  benefit 
greatly  thereby. 

Lord  Lome  used  to  make  his  headquarters 
at  a  farm  known  as  "  Woodmans,"  in  close 
proximity  to  some  good  fishing  water,  no- 
tably a  pool  known  as  "  the  Princess',"  so 
called  after  the  royal  lady  as  a  compliment, 
to  whom  the  Quebec  Government  had  ceded 
the  fishing  rights  to  her  husband. 

Above  this  point  the  river  runs  through 
densely  wooded  and  almost  untrodden  soli- 
tudes. About  forty  miles  from  the  mouth 
it  divides  into  two  branches  known  as  the 
"  Indian  "  and  "  Salmon  "  branches.  These 
lose  themselves  in  the  low  mountains  marked 


96        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

on  the  map  as  the  St.  Anne's  Range,  and 
forming  the  watershed  between  the  Baie  des 
Chaleurs  and  the  St.  Lawrence. 

Here  and  there  the  stream  finds  itself 
suddenly  checked :  sometimes  a  huge  shingle 
bed  deposited  by  the  spring  floods,  some- 
times a  rocky  reef  on  which  the  current  can 
make  no  impression,  sometimes  a  so-called 
"  timber  jam  "  —  the  name  which  graphi- 
cally describes  an  accumulation  of  drift- 
wood and  rubbish  of  all  kinds  —  heads  back 
the  stream  and  compels  it  to  flow  like  a  mill 
race  through  a  comparatively  narrow  exit. 
It  is  these  contractions  which  have  created 
the  pools  —  deep  troughs  in  which  the  fish 
love  to  rest  on  their  upward  journey  to  the 
spawning  beds. 

The  pools,  or  groups  of  pools,  are  usually 
wide  apart.  Their  anatomy  varies  greatly, 
but,  as  a  rule,  there  is  at  the  head  of  each  of 
them  a  rapid,  flowing  like  a  small  cascade 
down  a  precipitous  descent.  In  some  cases 
the  water  of  this  rapid  may  be  compara- 
tively smooth,   in   others   it   is   broken  by 


A    CANADIAN   RIVER  97 

jagged  reefs  of  rock  or  boulders  of  terrify- 
ing aspect.  The  dexterity  with  which  the 
men  pole  their  craft  up-stream  through 
these  obstacles,  fighting  their  way  inch  by 
inch,  or  again  guide  the  canoes  on  the  not 
less  dangerous  journey  down-stream,  is  past 
all  belief :  they  are  artists,  and  to  their  skill, 
much  more  than  to  the  fisherman's,  are  due 
the  big  catches  which  have  made  the  Casca- 
pedia  famous. 

The  river  banks  are  clothed  by  a  dense 
forest  of  spruce  and  pine,  with  here  and 
there  a  sprinkling  of  birch  (yellow  and 
white)  and  maple,  while  near  the  water's 
edge  there  is  a  considerable  growth  of  pop- 
lar, mostly  the  balsam  poplar,  appropriately 
so  called  on  account  of  the  fragrance  of  its 
leaves  when  the  buds  first  expand.  On  a 
warm  evening  the  air  is  heavy  with  the  scent 
of  these  trees.  So  dense  is  the  growth  that 
there  are  very  few  spots  at  which  it  is  pos- 
sible to  take  a  cast  off  the  shore;  but  at  one 
or  two  points,  generally  where  a  shingle  bed 
adjoins  the  pool,  it  is  possible  for  the  fisher- 


98        OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

man  to  leave  his  boat  and  fish  the  stream  in 
his  own  way  standing  on  terra  firma.  There 
were  two  or  three  places  where  I  used  to  do 
this  with  much  success,  and  greatly  to  my 
own  satisfaction,  but  as  a  rule  the  modus 
operandi  was  as  follows:  The  canoe  was 
poled  to  the  head  of  the  pool,  a  stone 
anchor  attached  to  a  rope  of  stout  manilla 
hemp  was  let  go,  and  the  rope  was  paid  out 
gradually,  foot  by  foot,  after  each  cast. 
When  the  boat  came  to  the  end  of  its  tether 
the  anchor  was  hauled  in  and  let  go  again 
a  few  yards  lower  down.  In  this  way  the 
holding  parts  of  the  pool  could  be  systemati- 
cally and  thoroughly  searched.  Much 
judgment  had  to  be  exercised  in  deciding 
what  water  to  fish  and  what  to  leave  alone. 
The  bed  of  the  river  was  constantly  chang- 
ing. The  spring  floods  undermined  the 
banks,  which  collapsed,  carrying  with  them 
the  trees  which  stood  nearest  to  the  water's 
edge,  and  so  old  pools  were  silted  up  and 
new  pools  excavated.  A  pool  might  be  ex- 
cellent one  season  and  useless  the  next.     It 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  99 

used  to  be  my  delight  and  that  of  my  two 
men,  who  were  as  keen  as  I  was,  to  prospect 
for  new  fishing  ground,  and  we  were 
triumphant  when  we  succeeded,  as  we  often 
did,  in  extracting  a  fish  from  some  hitherto 
untried  and  uncharted  pool. 

My  observations  up  to  this  point  have  been 
mainly  descriptive  and  general.  It  may  be 
convenient  that  I  should  pass  to  narrative 
and  give  some  account  of  our  own  personal 
experiences. 

In  the  early  months  of  1884,  when  the 
Ottawa  Session  was  drawing  towards  its 
close,  when  the  "  robins  "  were  beginning  to 
arrive,  and  the  little  blue  hepaticas  to  peep 
out  from  under  the  thawing  snow,  our 
thoughts  began  to  turn  to  fishing.  The 
campaign  required  careful  organization. 
We  had  decided  that  we  would  not  be  con- 
tent with  a  camp  at  "  Woodmans,"  but  that 
we  must  have  a  home  of  our  own  in  the 
wilderness  higher  up  the  river  and  remote 
from  the  haunts  of  men.  H.  A.,  best  of 
A.  D.  C.'s  and  most  persevering  of  fisher- 


100      OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

men,  was  deputed  to  spy  the  land.  With 
him  we  sent  Reid,  head  carpenter  at  Govern- 
ment House,  a  delightful  Scotchman,  with 
infinite  skill  in  all  matters  concerning  his 
trade,  and  possessing  all  the  shrewdness  and 
resourcefulness  of  his  race.  The  reports  re- 
ceived by  letter  from  our  mission  were  en- 
couraging, and  H.  A.  was  given  carte 
blanche  to  select  a  site  on  which  Reid  was 
to  construct  the  new  house.  There  were 
only  a  few  weeks  to  spare,  but  Reid  under- 
took to  have  some  kind  of  shelter  ready  for 
us  in  time  for  the  opening  of  the  season. 
The  house  was  to  be  of  the  simplest  kind, 
built  entirely  of  wood,  of  which  an  abundant 
supply  could  be  obtained  locally,  and  we 
were  unhampered  by  by-laws  as  to  the  de- 
sign of  the  structure. 

The  long-awaited  day  came  at  last,  and 
on  the  12th  of  June  I  started  with  H.  A. 
from  Quebec,  travelling  by  the  Inter- 
Colonial  Railway  to  Dalhousie,  and  passing 
on  our  way  the  Metapedia,  where  George 
Stephen  (now  Lord  Mount  Stephen)  had 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  101 

his  fishing  quarters,  and  the  famous  Resti- 
gouche,  much  frequented  by  wealthy- 
Americans.  At  Dalhousie  we  took  steamer 
as  far  as  New  Richmond,  where  we  landed ; 
then  came  a  rough  drive,  which  grew 
rougher  and  rougher,  through  a  woodland 
country  with  here  and  there  the  homestead 
of  a  small  farm.  The  ground  seemed  liter- 
ally covered  with  wild  flowers,  and  the 
scenery  throughout  was  bright  and  attrac- 
tive. Our  first  inspection  showed  how  well 
H.  A.  and  Reid  had  acquitted  themselves  of 
their  task.  They  had  chosen  a  kind  of  ter- 
race, a  good  many  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  river,  with  a  naturally  dry  soil.  The 
house  stood  on  a  bend,  so  that  our  view  en- 
filaded the  stream,  of  which  we  had  pleasant 
glimpses  upwards  and  downwards  through 
the  intervening  trees.  On  another  terrace, 
a  little  way  above  that  on  which  our  house 
stood,  the  staff  used  to  pitch  their  camp,  and 
the  trim,  bright-coloured  tents  contrasted 
delightfully  with  the  dark  green  of  the  ad- 
joining forest.     Just  above  our  camp  were 


102      OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

two  famous  pools,  "  the  Rock "  and  "  the 
Ledge,"  of  which  we  took  heavy  toll  in  the 
years  which  followed.  Exactly  opposite 
New  Derreen  —  this  was  the  name  which 
we  gave  to  our  little  residence,  in  honour  of 
another  dearly  beloved  Derreen  on  the  west 
coast  of  Ireland  —  a  small  stream,  little 
more  than  a  big  brook  (the  Escuminac), 
added  its  waters  to  those  of  the  main  river. 
The  Escuminac  was  much  frequented  by 
large  sea-trout,  but  I  do  not  think  the 
salmon  ever  used  it.  Below  the  meeting  of 
the  waters  was  a  deep  pool,  a  good  deal  dis- 
turbed by  our  canoes,  but  scarcely  ever  with- 
out a  fish.  Between  the  house  and  the  pool 
lay  a  shingly  beach,  at  the  edge  of  which  the 
boatmen's  camp  had  been  established,  as 
well  as  an  ice-house  for  storing  salmon. 

New  Derreen  was  constructed  with  mar- 
vellous rapidity.  It  was  a  low  one-storied 
building,  entirely  of  wood,  with  a  shingled 
roof.  It  contained  a  mess-room,  a  sitting- 
room,  two  or  three  small  bed-rooms,  little 
more  than  cubicles,  with  a  kitchen  and  ser- 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  103 

vants'  quarters  at  the  back.  On  two  sides 
fronting  the  river  it  was  provided  with  a 
broad  verandah,  in  which  we  used  to  spend 
a  great  deal  of  our  time. 

When  we  first  arrived  we  depended  for 
our  water-supply  on  water  brought  up  in 
buckets  from  the  river,  but  we  were  able  to 
improve  upon  this  by  capturing  a  small  rill 
on  the  hillside,  a  hundred  yards  or  so  from 
the  house,  and  bringing  it  down  in  a  kind  of 
rough  wooden  aqueduct  carried  from  tree  to 
tree.  This  provided  us  with  an  unfailing 
supply  of  perfectly  pure  and  ice-cold  water. 

A  word  on  the  scenery  of  the  adjoining 
country.  It  was  densely  wooded  —  there 
were  trees  everywhere  —  but  it  must  be  con- 
fessed that  there  was  a  complete  absence  of 
anything  which  could  be  described  as  fine 
timber.  The  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  The 
more  accessible  of  these  so-called  "  timber 
limits  "  are  leased  to  the  great  mill-owners, 
and  have  for  many  years  past  been  worked 
over  by  the  lumberers.  Every  winter  lum- 
bering parties  push  their  way  farther  and 


104     OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

farther  into  the  mountains,  singling  out  and 
felling  the  sound  sticks ;  thus  it  happens  that 
all  the  more  robust  and  stately  trees  fall  vic- 
tims to  the  axe  and  are  converted  into  "  saw 
logs."  If  a  tree  is  sound  and  clean,  down  it 
comes,  with  the  result  that  only  the  unsound 
and  immature  trees  survive. 

The  marketable  trees  are  thrown  while 
the  snow  is  on  the  ground,  and  the  stems 
are  rolled  down  the  hillside  to  the  nearest 
stream.  When  the  snow  melts  and  the 
spring  floods  come,  they  are  carried  auto- 
matically down  the  rivers  until  they  reach 
the  depots,  where  they  are  collected  behind 
a  floating  boom,  like  sheep  in  a  pen,  and  re- 
main until  such  time  as  they  can  be  dragged 
on  an  endless  chain  to  the  sawmill,  where 
they  are  rapidly  converted  into  "  deals." 

But  while  the  bulk  of  the  logs  are  thus 
hurried  rapidly  to  their  destination,  many 
stick  fast  on  the  sandbanks  or  in  the  eddies, 
where  they  sail  round  and  round  hopelessly, 
and  eventually  take  anchor.  Quite  a  num- 
ber of  logs  are  thus  intercepted.     These  are 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  105 

too  valuable  to  be  neglected,  and  accord- 
ingly, after  the  first  raging  floods  have  spent 
their  strength,  but  before  the  water  has 
touched  its  low  summer  level,  parties  of 
"  drivers  "  are  sent  up  the  rivers  to  extricate 
these  lost  sheep  and  expedite  their  journey 
to  the  mills.  The  driving  party  is  conveyed 
in  several  canoes,  with  a  crew  of  two  or  three 
men  to  each.  These  men,  often  half-breed 
Indians,  are  equally  at  home  on  shore  or  in 
the  water,  and  are  unrivalled  in  the  dex- 
terous use  of  pole,  paddle,  or  axe. 

The  driving  gangs  work  their  way  down 
from  the  head  waters  in  the  heart  of  the 
mountains,  and  make  it  their  business  to 
search  every  nook  and  corner  for  lost  logs. 
Each  of  these  is,  when  found,  dislodged 
from  its  resting-place  and  carefully  shep- 
herded until  it  is  once  again  fairly  launched 
upon  the  current.  The  work  is  extremely 
rough  and  difficult,  and  is  performed  with 
wondrous  skill ;  but  to  the  salmon  fisherman 
this  log-driving  campaign,  coming  as  it  does 
when  the  salmon  fishing  is  at  its  best,  is  an 


106     OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

unmitigated  nuisance.  The  "  drivers  "  are, 
not  without  reason,  suspected  of  taking  toll 
of  the  pools  as  they  pass  by  them.  They 
would  be  more  than  human  if  they  did  not; 
nor  are  they  likely  to  be  particular  as  to  their 
methods,  and  there  is  no  poacher's  art  of 
which  they  are  not  past-masters.  A  light 
net  can  easily  be  stowed  away  in  the  canoe, 
and  when  the  fish  are  huddled  together  in 
the  upper  pools  torch  and  spear  can  be  used 
with  deadly  effect. 

I  can  well  remember  my  first  introduction 
to  a  timber  drive.  I  was  fishing  the  famous 
Limestone  Pool  —  one  of  the  best  in  the 
lower  section  of  the  river  —  the  water  was 
in  excellent  order,  and  fish  were  showing  in 
numbers.  I  had  killed  one  large  salmon, 
and  was  fast  in  another,  which  was  putting 
up  a  good  fight.  I  suddenly  became  aware 
of  something  which  looked  like  a  huge  croco- 
dile sailing  down  the  pool  in  my  direction, 
and  in  a  few  moments  I  found  the  floating 
stem  of  a  large  spruce  between  me  and  my 
fish.     I  dipped  the  point  of  my  rod  and  al- 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  107 

lowed  the  line  to  sink  as  far  as  it  would  go, 
but  I  soon  felt  it  rasping  along  the  rough 
surface  of  the  log  and  a  break  seemed  inevi- 
table. More  by  chance  than  skill,  the  line 
was  successfully  manipulated  until  the  great 
tree-trunk  had  passed  by  us,  and  I  was  able 
to  resume  offensive  tactics.  The  fish  was 
landed,  and  I  was  congratulating  myself  on 
my  good  fortune,  and  intending  to  re- 
commence operations,  when  I  caught  sight 
in  the  offing  of  a  second  log,  followed  by  a 
third  and  yet  others  in  an  apparently  end- 
less procession.  I  had  never  encountered  a 
timber  drive  before,  and  now  realized  too 
fully  what  it  meant.  For  the  rest  of  that 
morning  I  was  completely  defeated. 

After  this  digression  I  ought  perhaps  to 
explain  that  our  river  was  divided  into  three 
sections  —  the  Home  Beat,  of  which  I  have 
already  said  something;  the  Middle  Camp, 
about  seven  miles'  farther  up  the  river,  where 
there  was  a  substantially  built  log-hut  used 
by  the  lumberers  in  the  winter  and  by  fisher- 
men in  the  summer  season;  and  the  Upper 


108     OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

or  Lazy  Bogan  section,  also  equipped  with  a 
log-hut,  which  must  have  been  some  twenty- 
miles  farther.  The  Middle  Camp  section 
contained  some  magnificent  pools,  which 
always  yielded  fine  sport  early  in  the  season. 
After  that  they  became  less  productive  — 
I  cannot  help  thinking,  owing  to  the  interest 
taking  in  them  by  the  timber-drivers.  The 
Upper  section  was  wonderful:  there  were 
good  holding  pools  above  and  below  the 
camp ;  but  in  order  to  reach  this  you  had  not 
only  to  face  a  long  journey  up-stream,  but 
to  surmount  the  Indian  Rapid,  much  the 
most  formidable  obstacle  of  the  kind  on  the 
whole  river,  owing  to  its  length  and  the  ex- 
treme roughness  of  the  water.  The  ascent 
of  this  rapid  involved  a  most  arduous,  not 
to  say  dangerous,  piece  of  poling.  I  used 
generally  to  leave  the  canoe  and  follow  the 
trail  on  the  river  bank  until  the  top  of  the 
rapid  was  reached.  The  men  were  only  too 
glad  to  be  relieved  of  the  necessity  of  carry- 
ing an  extra  ten  stone  up  the  rapid.  The 
latter  consideration  did  not  apply  to  the 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  109 

downward  journey,  and  I  more  than  once 
remained  in  the  canoe  for  this,  greatly  en- 
joying the  excitement  of  a  descent  quite  as 
trying  to  the  nerves  as  any  toboggan  slide 
with  which  I  was  ever  concerned.     There 
was  a  good  salmon  pool  just  above  the  rapid, 
and  there  was  always  the  chance  that  a  fish 
hooked  in  this  pool  would  take  the  bit  be- 
tween his  teeth  and  insist  upon  going  down; 
I  do  not  think,  however,  that  any  of  our 
party  ever  had  this  stirring  experience.     I 
remember  that  on  one  occasion,  as  we  were 
dropping  carefully  down  the  rapid,   each 
man  using  the   whole   of   his   strength  to 
steady  the  canoe,  we  caught  sight  of  a  fine 
new  pole  which  had  got  fixed  between  two 
rocks  and  been  left  there  by  some  previous 
travellers.     The  temptation  was  irresistible ; 
our  course  was  checked  for  a  moment,  and 
the  coveted  weapon  snatched  as  we  shot  past 
it,  and  carried  off  in  triumph. 

We  used  to  take  it  in  turns  to  visit  these 
upper  waters,  sending  up  a  separate  canoe 
to  carry  our  blankets  and  stores.     This  com- 


110      OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

missariat  canoe  had  for  its  passenger  our 
emergency  cook,  George  Bacon,  a  caretaker 
at  the  Quebec  Citadel,  whom  we  used  to 
borrow  every  year  for  this  purpose.  George 
was  a  most  resourceful  person,  quite  im- 
perturbable and  impervious  to  bad  weather. 
Under  the  shelter  of  an  extemporised  screen, 
roofed  with  great  slabs  of  bark,  he  was  able 
with  a  fire  of  wood  embers  and  a  Dutch  oven 
to  produce  out  of  the  scantiest  materials 
savoury  messes  with  a  cachet  all  their  own. 
A  plump  sea-trout  broiled  on  the  ashes  with 
a  piece  of  fat  pork  inside  it  was  one  of  his 
and  our  favourite  dishes.  "  Victor,"  our 
cheery  little  French  chef,  remained  in 
charge  of  culinary  arrangements  at  New 
Derreen. 

The  journey  from  New  Derreen  to  Lazy 
Bogan  was  a  severe  grind  for  the  men,  and 
indeed  seemed  long  enough  even  for  the  pas- 
senger, as  he  sat  without  much  elbow-room 
on  the  floor  of  the  canoe.  But  for  me  these 
lovely  reaches,  with  their  infinite  variety  of 
woodland  and  river  scenery,  had  an  inex- 
pressible charm. 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  111 

We  generally  broke  the  journey  half-way 
at  a  well-known  landing,  where,  by  a  smooth 
sandy  beach  under  the  shade  of  an  over- 
hanging tree,  an  old  shack  afforded  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  ready-made  shelter.  Here 
we  camped  out  for  the  night.  Our  sleeping 
accommodation  on  these  occasions  was  of 
the  simplest:  our  blankets  were  laid  on  the 
top  of  a  layer  of  freshly  gathered  spruce 
twigs,  carefully  laid  so  as  to  afford  a  smooth 
surface,  supple  and  sweet-scented.  On 
such  a  couch  we  slept,  as  one  sleeps  in  the 
woods,  and  dreamt  of  forty-pounders. 

One  word  as  to  our  mode  of  fishing. 
Only  the  fly  was  permitted  —  prawn,  min- 
now, and  other  baits  being  absolutely 
barred.  During  the  early  days  of  the  sea- 
son the  fish  would  take  almost  any  fly,  and 
a  good  large  one  was  preferable;  later,  as 
the  river  shrunk,  they  became  more  fastidi- 
ous, and  we  had  to  wait  until  the  evening 
and  use  what  we  should  in  Ireland  describe 
as  sea-trout  flies.  All  the  old  standard 
patterns  answered  well.     One  could  never 


112      OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

go  wrong  with  "  Jock  Scott/'  "  Thunder 
and  Lightning,"  or  "  Silver  Doctor  "  ;  but 
I  found  some  of  the  sober  old  Tay  Turkey- 
Wings  quite  as  effectual  as  their  more  gaudy- 
rivals. 

We  generally  had  three  or  four  canoes 
out.  Two  men  were  told  off  to  each,  and 
William  Dimmock,  "  gardien  "  of  the  river 
—  an  excellent  fellow,  and  most  skillful  and 
trustworthy  in  a  boat  —  was  in  supreme 
command  of  the  whole  flotilla.  Of  the 
prowess  of  these  men  as  navigators  I  have 
already  spoken.  Their  skill  in  the  use  of 
the  gaff  was  almost  inconceivable ;  but  I  am 
bound  to  say  that  the  gaff  which  they  used 
was  a  most  barbarous  weapon.  It  was  a 
pole  almost  as  long  as  a  punt  pole,  armed 
with  a  huge  curved  iron  head  shaped  some- 
thing like  a  shepherd's  crook.  With  these 
gaffs  they  would,  if  allowed,  take  the  most 
extraordinary  liberties ;  and  I  have  over  and 
over  again  seen  them  snatch  an  only  half- 
played  fish  in  the  middle  of  the  roughest 
water  long  before  he  was  really  ready  for 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  113 

the  cleek.  Their  dexterity  at  this  game 
more  than  once  suggested  to  my  mind  that 
they  had  graduated  in  a  fish-spearing  school. 
I  am  glad  to  say  that  after  a  time  I  per- 
suaded my  own  men  to  use  a  more  civilized 
weapon,  and  to  possess  their  souls  in  pa- 
tience until  I  gave  them  a  proper  chance  of 
securing  the  fish.  It  must  be  remembered 
that,  owing  to  the  dense  growth  which 
clothed  the  river  banks,  our  fish  had  in  nine 
cases  out  of  ten  to  be  lifted  out  of  the  water 
and  into  the  boat  instead  of  dragged  ashore. 
The  men  were  as  skillful  in  the  use  of  the 
axe  as  in  that  of  pole  and  paddle.  New 
Derreen  was  surrounded  by  a  dense  growth 
of  forest,  and  we  used  to  spend  a  good  deal 
of  our  spare  time  in  clearing  away  the 
jungle.  In  those  days  I  was  very  fond  of 
cutting  down  trees,  and  though  I  never  emu- 
lated Mr.  Gladstone's  skill,  I  was  fairly 
handy  with  the  axe,  and  rather  fancied  my- 
self in  the  role  of  a  woodman.  But  these 
men  fairly  knocked  the  conceit  out  of  me. 
I  used  sometimes  to  "  take  on  "  a  tree  in 


114      OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

company  with  one  of  them,  and  I  always 
chose  the  easy  side  of  the  tree,  if  there  was 
one,  for  myself;  but  I  was  hopelessly  left 
behind,  and  invariably  found  my  partner 
well  through  his  share  of  the  work  while  I 
was  still  only  half-way  through  mine. 
They  were,  it  is  true,  extravagant  of  the 
timber,  and  used  to  make  a  huge  gash  which 
would  have  horrified  a  Scotch  or  English 
forester. 

The  picture  would  be  incomplete  without 
some  account  of  the  natural  history  of  the 
river.  In  addition  to  salmon,  it  held  any 
quantity  of  sea-trout.  These  ran  later  than 
the  salmon,  but  by  the  month  of  July  the 
river  was  full  of  them.  They  frequented  as 
a  rule  the  thinner  water,  but  they  were  gen- 
erally to  be  found  in  the  salmon  pools  also. 
Here  they  were  a  great  nuisance.  They 
stuck  at  nothing  in  the  way  of  a  fly.  They 
had  tremendous  teeth,  and  after  playing  one 
or  two  of  them  your  fly  was  ruined.  More- 
over, the  larger  fish  played  very  strong,  and 
in  spite  of  attempts  to  give  them  short  shrift, 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  115 

splashed  about  all  over  the  place  and  effec- 
tually disturbed  the  pool.  We  caught  them 
up  to  five  pounds  weight,  and  a  friend  of 
mine  who  was  on  Lord  Derby's  staff  has  the 
outline  of  a  seven-pounder  which  he  cap- 
tured. I  have  a  photograph  of  a  basket  of 
ten  caught  by  Lord  Alexander  Russell,  and 
weighing  40  pounds.  When  there  was  noth- 
ing better  to  do,  we  used  frequently  to  go 
out  with  light  rods  and  small  flies  and  fill 
our  baskets  with  these  fish.  I  remember 
one  occasion  on  which  one  of  my  sons  and  I 
found  that  a  school  of  them  had  run  up  into 
a  "  bogan  "  (a  back-water  or  creek),  in  the 
absolutely  still  and  pellucid  water  of  which 
we  could  see  them  quite  plainly  as  they 
cruised  around.  We  drove  them  out 
unceremoniously  into  an  adjoining  run 
where  C.  and  I  caught  sixty  of  them, 
weighing  exactly  30  pounds,  in  two  or  three 
hours. 

Of  wild  animals  there  were  not  many. 
We  rarely  saw  deer,  although  their  tracks 
were  now  and  then  to  be  found.     Now  and 


116     OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

again  we  encountered  a  bear,  particularly 
on  the  higher  and  less  frequented  reaches. 
Once  when  dropping  quietly  down-stream 
I  suddenly  encountered  one  swimming 
across  the  river.  My  boatmen  immediately 
started  in  hot  pursuit,  but  the  bear  won  by 
a  short  head,  gained  the  shore,  and  shambled 
up  the  mountainside  before  we  could  over- 
take him.  Upon  the  whole  it  was  perhaps 
fortunate  that  we  failed.  An  entry  in  H. 
A.'s  journal,  "  His  Excellency  rose  a  bear," 
probably  refers  to  this  incident.  We  often 
caught  sight  of  a  mink  sneaking  quietly 
along  the  bank.  There  were  occasional 
musk-rats,  and  high  up  the  river,  a  large 
beaver  dam,  the  occupants  of  which  I  never 
had  the  good  fortune  to  set  eyes  on. 
Amongst  the  smaller  mammalia  was  the 
little  ground-hog,  a  kind  of  marmot,  nearly 
the  size  of  a  rabbit,  whose  burrows  were 
quite  common. 

I  must  not,  however,  omit  from  the  list  of 
wild  animals  one  which  constantly  made  its 
presence  felt  during  our  wanderings.     The 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  117 

beautiful  and,  alas!  evil-smelling  skunk  was 
not  uncommon,  but  I  never  got  to  close 
quarters  with  him  save  on  one  occasion.  I 
had  gone  up  the  river  to  the  Lazy  Bogan 
Camp  and  taken  possession  of  the  log-hut 
which  one  of  us  generally  occupied  on  these 
occasions.  It  was  not  long  before  I  found 
out  that  the  premises  were  already  tenanted. 
A  family  of  skunks  had  established  them- 
selves under  the  floor  of  the  hut.  I  could 
hear  them  scratching  and  scuffling  under- 
neath the  boards,  and  I  could  most  unmis- 
takably smell  them.  It  was  unpleasant  but 
tolerable,  except  when  something  happened 
to  upset  the  equanimity  of  the  household. 
They  greatly  resented,  for  example,  my 
morning  ablutions,  which  were  noisy  and  in- 
volved the  splashing  of  a  good  deal  of  cold 
water,  some  of  which  no  doubt  percolated 
to  the  family  quarters.  They  showed  their 
resentment  by  the  liberal  use  of  poison  gas, 
which  fairly  drove  me  out  of  the  house ;  but 
we  got  used  to  one  another  after  a  time,  and 
ended  by  making  bon  menage.     H.  A.,  who 


118     OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

relieved  me  when  I  went  down,  was  less 
fortunate.  On  his  first  evening  he  caught 
sight  of  the  mother  skunk  as  she  left  her 
home  through  a  bolt-hole,  which  was  evi- 
dently the  ordinary  means  of  ingress  and 
egress.  H.  A.  saw  his  opportunity,  and 
proceeded  to  "  stop  her  out."  No  earth 
was  ever  more  carefully  closed,  but  the  re- 
sult was  deplorable.  The  young  family  was 
disconsolate  for  the  absence  of  their  dam; 
the  lady  on  her  side  was  inconsolable,  and 
hung  about  the  place  all  night,  making  her- 
self extremely  objectionable.  H.  A.  had  a 
bad  time  of  it,  and  took  out  the  stopping 
next  morning.  Those  who  have  sat  in  a 
stuffy  church  near  a  lady  wearing  a  skunk 
stole  or  muff  will  be  able  to  form  some  idea 
of  his  discomfort. 

The  birds  were  few,  but  interesting.  As 
you  travelled  along  the  river  you  constantly 
came  upon  a  beautiful  night  heron  flapping 
lazily  along  the  stream.  Not  infrequently 
one  met  with  a  so-called  "  fish-hawk  "  —  an 
osprey  of  some  kind,  I  think  —  much  inter- 


A    CANADIAN   RIVER  119 

ested  in  the  capture  of  trout  in  the  shoal 
water.  Then  there  were  partridges,  really 
wood  grouse,  very  tame,  and  unmolested  by 
us,  as  we  were  there  during  the  breeding 
season.  Large  kingfishers  had  their  homes 
in  the  steep  sandbanks,  and  gave  a  note  not 
unlike  that  of  their  Australian  relative,  the 
"  laughing  jackass."  Woodpeckers  were 
common,  and  their  holes  were  noticeable  on 
the  trunks  of  many  of  the  decayed  or  partly 
dead  trees.  After  dark  the  night- jars  made 
themselves  heard;  the  hurtling  sound  of 
their  flight  as  they  swooped  unseen  across 
some  forest  clearing  was  indescribably  weird 
and  ghostlike. 

In  my  brief  enumeration  of  the  animals 
which  frequented  the  Cascapedia  I  see  that 
I  have  forgotten  to  mention  the  insects. 
These  are  by  no  means  a  negligible  quantity. 
Mosquitoes,  black  flies,  and  sand-flies  are  a 
formidable  triple  alliance.  I  suffered  less 
than  most  of  us,  and  sand-flies,  although 
maddening,  are,  I  think,  not  more  madden- 
ing than  Scotch  or  Irish  midges;  but  to  most 


120     OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

of  our  visitors  the  flies  were  a  real  terror. 
There  were  many  remedies,  some  of  them 
worse  almost  than  the  disease,  notably  a  hor- 
rible brown  unguent  with  which  we  were  ex- 
pected to  smear  our  faces.  Pieces  of  rag 
dipped  in  malodorous  essences  were  not 
quite  so  bad.  Veils  which  interfered  with 
one's  breathing  and  clung  to  one's  skin  when 
one  was  perspiring  were,  I  thought,  intoler- 
able. When  driven  to  desperation,  I  found 
that  the  best  plan  was  to  light  a  "  smudge  " 
in  the  canoe.  A  smudge  is  a  little  fire  of 
touchwood  which  can  be  kindled  in  a  glue- 
pot,  and  when  fairly  set  going,  supplemented 
by  a  little  damp  moss,  so  as  to  produce  a 
dense  column  of  pungent  smoke.  This  the 
mosquitoes  at  any  rate  will  not  face ;  and  by 
keeping  close  to  the  smudge,  and  yet  not 
within  its  fumes,  it  is  possible  to  elude  the 
enemy ;  but,  as  I  have  said  before,  I  was  for- 
tunate, which  was  more  than  I  could  say 
for  all  our  visitors.  One  of  them,  a  rather 
full-blown,  well-nourished  Britisher,  was  a 
sight  for  gods  and  men  after  a  fortnight's 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  121 

experience  of  Cascapedia  insects.  I  feel 
pretty  sure  that  newcomers  suffer  more  than 
those  who  have  already  undergone  the  ex- 
perience, and  it  has  always  seemed  to  me 
probable  that  the  human  blood,  if  once  it 
has  been  inoculated  with  the  mosquito  virus, 
may  become  comparatively  immune  after- 
wards. 

Butterflies  were  plentiful,  notably  the 
beautiful  swallow-tail.  My  sons,  who  like 
most  boys  were  keen  entomologists,  once 
caught  a  black  variety  of  this  species,  which 
they  were  told  by  the  experts  was  rare  and 
valuable,  but  they  never  got  a  second. 

Of  trees  I  have  said  something  elsewhere. 
Amongst  the  shrubs  none  were  more  beauti- 
ful than  the  so-called  high  bush  cranberries, 
a  Cornus  of  some  kind,  bearing  great  clus- 
ters of  scarlet  fruit  not  unlike  its  Irish  rela- 
tive to  be  found  on  most  of  the  Kerry 
streams.  Of  small  wild  flowers  there  were 
any  number,  including  a  tiny  and  very 
beautiful  orchid  —  I  believe  the  most  north- 
erly species  of  its  kind.     On  the  beaches  and 


122      OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

sand-banks  an  CEnothera  was  common  and 
very  attractive. 

I  must  not  forget  the  berry-bearing 
plants,  which  were  numerous,  particularly 
on  the  slopes  where  the  high  forest  had  been 
burnt,  —  cranberries,  bear-berries,  crow-ber- 
ries, partridge  berries,  and  so  forth.  Some 
of  these  were  most  interesting  and  attrac- 
tive; the  last-named  was,  I  think,  a  dwarf 
Gaultheria,  creeping  along  the  ground  al- 
most like  thyme,  with  its  festoons  orna- 
mented at  intervals  by  pure  white,  pearl-like 
fruits.  But  I  must  not  omit  the  edible 
berries.  There  were  thickets  of  raspberries 
in  every  direction,  and  nothing  could  have 
been  more  delicious  than  their  fruit.  It 
yielded,  when  pressed,  an  admirable  syrup, 
wholly  unconnected  with  raspberry  vinegar, 
for  which,  even  in  my  school-days,  I  had  no 
great  taste.  A  wine-glass  of  this  syrup, 
added  to  a  tumbler  of  iced  water,  was  a 
glorious  beverage  for  a  thirsty  soul.  In  the 
open  spaces  wild  strawberries  were  plentiful, 
particularly  at  the  edge  of  the  sandy  beaches, 


A   CANADIAN  RIVER  123 

and  I  used  often  to  tramp  across  these  and 
take  advantage  of  my  opportunities  while 
the  men  poled  the  canoe  up-stream. 

The  trudge  across  these  beaches  was  in- 
teresting in  other  ways.  It  was  generally 
possible  to  find  among  the  pebbles  good 
specimens  of  agate  and  jasper  brought  down 
from  the  volcanic  formations  of  the  St. 
Anne's  range.  Some  of  these  I  had  pol- 
ished and  still  preserve.  As  a  rule  my  speci- 
mens were  of  small  size,  but  now  and  again 
I  encountered,  and  could  not  resist  carry- 
ing off,  a  large  lump,  perhaps  of  ordinary 
rock  with  a  likely  nodule  of  agate  bedded 
within  it.  My  men,  who  at  first  regarded 
my  proceedings  as  a  kind  of  harmless  lunacy, 
began  after  a  time  to  look  ruefully  at  me 
when  I  returned  to  the  canoe  bearing  with 
me  such  weighty  treasures.  They  finally 
represented  to  me  respectfully  that  we  were 
already  heavily  laden  with  the  spoils  of  the 
chase,  that  our  Plimsoll-line  was  all  too  low, 
and  that  several  pounds'  weight  of  precious 
stones  was  a  wholly  uncalled-for  handicap. 


124      OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

I  had  to  be  content  with  smaller  specimens, 
surreptitiously  smuggled  on  board  in  my 
jacket  pockets. 

How  much  or  how  little  ought  I  to  say  in 
these  notes  as  to  our  own  performances  in 
the  fishing  line?  A  mere  reprint  of  our 
journals  would  be  monotonous  and  unintel- 
ligible to  an  outsider.  I  may  as  well,  how- 
ever, give  here  the  summary  of  our  catch 
during  the  four  seasons.  We  caught 
amongst  us  1245  salmon,  weighing  29,188 
pounds,  an  average  of  23J  pounds.  Two 
hundred  ten  of  these  fish  weighed  30  pounds 
and  over,  and  the  largest  weighed  45  pounds. 
The  fishing  season  was  very  short,  lasting 
from  the  second  week  in  June  to  the  end  of 
July,  after  which  time  there  were  other  calls 
to  meet,  while  the  river  became  too  low  for 
fishing.  It  should,  perhaps,  be  explained 
that  our  party  consisted  of  the  writer  and  his 
little  staff,  assisted  now  and  again  by  the 
ladies.  Besides  these  there  were  occasional 
visitors,  amongst  them  Sir  Lionel  Sackville- 
West,  then  Minister  at  Washington,  Lord 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  125 

Alexander  Russell,  in  command  at  Halifax, 
Admiral  Commerell,  and  two  or  three  others. 

We  always  did  our  greatest  execution  dur- 
ing the  first  three  weeks,  when  the  river  was 
still  full  of  water.  After  that  it  fell  rapidly 
to  a  low  summer  level,  with  only  occasional 
freshets  anxiously  watched  for  by  all  of  us. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  time  it  became  dif- 
ficult to  inveigle  a  fish  into  rising.  We  had 
to  depend  mainly  upon  the  evening  fishing, 
and  to  use  quite  small  flies. 

The  high  average  weight  of  our  fish  com- 
pels attention.  We  caught  scarcely  any 
grilse.  I  never  understood  why  this  was  so. 
Was  there  an  autumn  run  of  grilse?  The 
men  had  apparently  never  heard  of  it.  I 
think  we  could  have  collected  heavier  bags 
if  we  had  fished  all  day.  but  as  a  general  rule 
we  were  content  with  an  hour  or  two  in  the 
early  morning  and  another  spell  when  the 
sun  got  low.  During  the  intervening  hours 
there  was  plenty  of  time  for  reading  and 
writing,  and  perhaps  for  a  siesta  in  the 
verandah. 


126     OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

The  summary  gives  an  idea  of  the  number 
and  size  of  the  fish  caught.  It  may,  how- 
ever, be  interesting  to  single  out  a  few  speci- 
men days  when  exceptional  good  fortune 
attended  our  efforts.  H.  A.  was  a  born 
statistician,  and  kept  a  journal  in  which  is 
entered  the  weight  of  every  fish  and  the 
place  and  date  of  its  capture.  From  this 
interesting  record  I  select  the  items  which 
follow. 

During  the  season  of  1884  I  find  that  on 
the  29th  of  July  I  caught  in  the  Upper  or 
Lazy  Bogan  pools  ten  fish,  weighing  33,  24, 
11,  9,  20,  24,  9,  22,  22,  and  21  pounds.  On 
the  following  day  and  on  the  same  water,  but 
higher  up,  Lord  Alexander  Russell  killed 
eight  fish,  weighing  18,  18,  18,  10,  10,  3,  24, 
and  23  pounds.  This  3-pounder  was  much 
the  smallest  specimen  which  we  collected. 

In  the  season  of  1885,  on  the  23rd  of 
June,  I  am  credited  with  nine  fish,  weighing 
26,  23,  25,  10,  27J,  29,  30,  38,  and  23J 
pounds.  This  catch  was  made  when  I  was 
on  my  way  down  from  the  Middle  Camp.    I 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  127 

caught  one  fish  before  starting.  Seven  were 
caught  in  a  pool  known  as  "  Little  Picot," 
which  we  had  not  intended  to  fish,  but  it 
looked  well,  and  there  was  a  nice  beach  from 
which  it  could  be  commanded.  Casting 
from  this  beach,  I  caught  the  fish,  and  then 
made  the  best  of  my  way  home.  I  went 
out  for  a  few  minutes  in  the  evening  and 
tried  the  pool  opposite  the  house,  which 
yielded  the  ninth  fish. 

On  the  following  day  I  had  eight  in  the 
home  pools,  weighing  24,  31,  25,  22,  25,  27, 
33j,  and  22  pounds. 

I  see  that  I  pleaded  guilty  to  having  lost 
six  fish  on  each  of  these  two  days. 

On  the  24th,  Mr.  Herbert  Smith  had  five, 
weighing  40,  .25,  28,  25,  and  30  pounds,  and 
on  the  27th  the  same  fisherman  caught  two, 
weighing  25  and  45  pounds. 

On  the  3rd  July  H.  A.  landed  eight  fish, 
weighing  19£,  28|,  26,  11,  20J,  29,  22,  and 
21j  pounds,  and  lost  five. 

On  the  20th  July  Lord  Alexander  Rus- 
sell fished  the  Lazy  Bogan  pools  and  caught 


128     OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

ten  fish  weighing  209  pounds.  On  the  fol- 
lowing day  he  had  four  weighing  119 
pounds.  On  the  22nd  he  had  twelve  weigh- 
ing 245  pounds,  on  the  23rd  five  weighing 
93  pounds,  and  on  the  24th  nine  weighing 
197  pounds. 

From  the  records  of  1886  I  extract  the 
following : 

June  16th.  The  Hon.  John  Baring,  now 
Lord  Revelstoke,  five  fish,  weighing  38£, 
3l£,  32£,  30£,  and  22  pounds,  a  goodly  aver- 
age. On  the  following  day  Mr.  Baring 
caught  seven,  weighing  32 J,  25,  25J,  20, 18 J, 
19,  and  25  pounds. 

On  the  22nd  June  I  had  rather  an  excep- 
tional piece  of  good  fortune.  I  had  caught 
a  nice  25-pounder  before  breakfast  close  to 
the  Home  Camp.  In  the  afternoon  I  trav- 
elled up  to  the  Middle  Camp,  reaching  my 
destination  about  5  o'clock.  After  tea,  be- 
tween 6  p.m.  and  8  p.m.,  I  caught  four  fish, 
the  only  ones  that  I  moved;  they  weighed 
39,  33,  31,  and  33  pounds.  I  have  an  idea 
that  for  an  evening's  fishing  this  would  be 
difficult  to  beat. 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  129 

On  the  5th  July,  fishing  the  Home  pools, 
I  caught  seven,  weighing  28,  28,  22,  28,  8, 
33,  and  25  pounds,  and  lost  three.  On  the 
10th  July  I  caught  in  the  same  pools  four 
fish,  weighing  35,  28,  25,  and  38  pounds,  and 
next  day  two,  weighing  29J  and  30  pounds. 

On  the  15th  July  Lord  Alexander  Rus- 
sell caught  nine  fish,  weighing  32,  30,  30,  25, 
20J,  23,  28,  29J,  and  9|  pounds. 

Passing  to  the  season  of  1887,  when  we 
did  not  reach  the  river  until  nearly  the  end 
of  June,  I  note  that  on  my  first  day,  the 
27th,  I  had  eight  fish,  weighing  22,  22,  28, 
33,  24,  27,  25,  and  23  pounds,  on  the  Home 
pools;  and  next  day,  on  the  same  pools, 
eight,  weighing  18,  25,  22,  23,  28,  38,  37, 
and  18  pounds. 

The  staff  also  did  well,  H.  S.  securing  on 
the  27th,  on  Limestone,  nine  fish,  weighing 
32J,  28,  21,  23, 11,  33,  23,  26,  and  21  pounds; 
while  on  June  28th  H.  A.,  on  Jam  Rapids, 
had  ten,  weighing  27j,  24,  13j,  26,  8,  27,  20, 
28,  27J,  and  24J  pounds. 

On  July  1st,  fishing  the  Middle  Camp 


130     OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

pools,  I  had  eight  fish:  weights,  30,  24,  22, 
24,  30,  24J,  34£,  and  29  pounds. 

On  the  13th  and  14th  July,  on  the  Lazy 
Bogan  pools,  I  had  good  sport,  catching  on 
each  of  those  days  ten  fish ;  the  twenty  aver- 
aged 24J  pounds.  H.  S.,  who  was  with  me, 
on  the  same  two  days  caught  nine  and 
eleven,  which  he  followed  up  by  eight  on  the 
16th,  and  the  same  number  on  the  18th  of 
the  month. 

Of  fish  weighing  40  pounds  and  more  we 
caught  one  in  1884,  three  in  1885,  two  in 

1886,  and  one  in  1887;  but  we  had  a  large 
number  of  fish  which  approached,  but  did 
not  reach,  the  40-pound  standard.  The 
season  of  1884  yielded  36  fish,  that  of  1885, 
54  fish,  that  of  1886,  65  fish,  and  that  of 

1887,  55  fish  over  30  pounds. 

If  there  were  good  days  and  brilliant  suc- 
cesses, there  were  also  disappointments  and 
tragedies.  The  memory  of  some  of  these 
is  indelibly  impressed  on  my  mind.  I  can 
still  visualise  the  huge  fish  which  I  hooked  in 
"  Jack  the  Sailor,"  at  the  very  beginning  of 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  131 

my  Cascapedia  days,  which,  after  running 
out  the  greater  part  of  my  line,  leaped  into 
the  air  and  then  parted  company.  If  ever 
I  saw  a  50-pounder  it  was  that  fish.  I  re- 
member another  which  played  me  for  an  in- 
terminable time  in  the  thin  water  below  the 
Ledge  Pool.  I  could  do  nothing  with  him ; 
he  lay  like  a  log  in  mid-stream  and  refused 
obstinately  to  come  near  us.  At  last  we 
poled  our  way  out  to  him  and  got  quite  close, 
but  the  hold  parted  at  the  last  moment. 
The  fish  was  so  tired  that  Noel  very  nearly 
had  him  with  the  gaff  after  I  had  lost  him. 
But  there  is  one  tragedy  in  particular  of 
which  the  details  are  unforgettable.  One 
day  in  1884  I  was  fishing  at  Lazy  Bogan 
just  below  the  camp.  Towards  dusk  I  got 
fast  in  what  was  evidently  a  very  strong  fish. 
I  had  noticed  that  fish  hooked  late  in  the 
evening  always  showed  an  uncontrollable 
desire  to  run  violently  down-stream.  This 
fish  was  no  exception  to  the  rule.  I  hung 
hard  on  to  him,  but  he  took  us  down  and  ever 
down  until  we  found  ourselves  at  a  point 


132      OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

where  the  stream,  which  here  flowed  at  a 
great  pace,  divided  into  several  channels, 
separated  by  narrow  spits  of  shingle. 
Across  one  of  these  channels  a  dead  birch, 
brought  down  by  the  flood,  had  become 
fixed.  My  fish  elected  to  rush  down  the 
birch-tree  channel  just  as  the  men  had  com- 
mitted the  canoe  to  the  next.  Things  looked 
bad,  but  this  obstacle  was  overcome:  canoe 
and  fish  both  navigated  their  channels  with- 
out mishap  —  the  boughs  of  the  birch-tree 
sloped  down-stream,  and  the  line  passed 
over  them  without  getting  caught.  We  met 
our  fish  again  below  the  narrow  island  of 
shingle  which  had  parted  us,  after  which  he 
renewed  his  headlong  course.  Finally,  hav- 
ing found  a  resting-place  to  his  liking,  he 
went  to  ground  in  a  deep  hole  from  which  I 
tried  in  vain  to  dislodge  him:  in  spite  of 
pressure  applied  from  above  and  below  his 
place  of  refuge,  he  was  immovable.  I  tried 
to  hand-line  him  up  from  the  bottom,  but  it 
became  clear  that  he  had  literally  taken  root 
in  the  mass  of  brushwood  and  debris  which 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  133 

lay  half -buried  at  the  bottom  in  the  silt.  We 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  I  was  now  fast, 
not  in  the  fish  but  in  the  rubbish,  and  we  set 
to  work  to  get  loose,  and  if  possible,  to  save 
the  line  and  cast.  After  probing  the  depths 
with  his  gaff,  Barter  (who  was  then  my 
attendant)  at  last  got  hold  of  the  right 
bough,  and  the  line  suddenly  became  slack. 
I  proceeded  to  reel  up  with  a  sad  heart,  when 
suddenly  to  my  amazement  I  felt  a  quiver 
of  life,  and  realized  that  my  fish  was  still 
there.  The  rough  usage  to  which  he  had 
been  subjected  had  taken  all  the  vice  out  of 
him.  He  came  in  like  a  lamb,  and  I  felt 
that  I  could  tow  him  wherever  I  liked. 
There  was  a  little  back-water  a  few  yards 
off,  with  a  beautiful  gravelly  slope  on  one 
side  —  an  ideal  landing-place.  I  think  I 
could  have  beached  my  fish  unaided.  I  got 
out  of  the  canoe  and  drew  him  gently  and 
steadily  into  the  shoal  water.  He  was  vir- 
tually mine.  But  at  this  moment  Barter 
was  seized  by  an  access  of  dementia:  it  was 
the  call  of  the  wild,  the  instinct  of  the  old 


134      OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

salmon-spearing  blood.  Before  I  could  stop 
him  he  made  a  frantic  lunge  at  the  fish  with 
his  ten- foot  gaff.  That  was  the  end;  he 
missed  the  fish,  and  cut  my  line  in  two.  Our 
long  journey  up-stream,  past  the  narrows 
which  we  had  so  successfully  negotiated,  was 
a  melancholy  affair.  I  never  got  a  sight  of 
the  fish,  and  do  not  know  how  big  he  was. 
I  comforted  myself  with  the  reflection  that 
he  may  have  been  foul-hooked  and  not  so 
very  large  after  all. 

Here  is  the  story  of  what  might  have  been 
a  tragedy,  although  the  adventure  had  its 
comical  side.  H.  A.  was  fishing  the  Lime- 
stone Pool;  he  hooked  a  good  fish,  and  his 
bow  man  proceeded  as  usual  to  haul  in  the 
stone  anchor.  The  rope  broke,  the  anchor 
went  to  the  bottom,  and  the  man  fell  out  of 
the  canoe  on  the  other  side.  The  canoe  up- 
set, and  H.  A.  and  his  two  men  found 
themselves  struggling  in  the  water.  They 
could  none  of  them  swim,  but  were  fortu- 
nately close  to  the  bank,  and  succeeded  in 
scrambling  out.     They  were  a  long  way 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  135 

from  home,  with  a  trackless  jungle  on  either 
bank,  and  without  the  means  of  conveyance 
by  water.  They  set  out  down,-stream  in 
search  of  the  missing  craft.  Two  or  three 
hundred  yards  below  there  was  a  shingly  bar 
running  more  than  half-way  across  the  river. 
The  swamped  canoe  had  stranded  upon  this 
and  was  soon  righted  and  afloat  again.  One 
of  the  paddles  was  still  on  board,  the  other 
was  found  not  far  off.  As  the  search  pro- 
ceeded, they  came  upon  H.  A.'s  rod,  which 
had  also  grounded  on  the  shingle.  H.  A. 
proceeded  to  get  in  the  line,  and  found  to 
his  joy  that  the  fish  was  still  attached  to  it. 
It  was  landed  without  difficulty,  and  the 
party  paddled  down  to  camp  drenched  to  the 
skin,  but  triumphant.  I  must  not  omit  the 
sequel  of  this  story.  H.  A.  had  a  few  days 
before  received  a  large  and  expensive  con- 
signment of  salmon-flies  from  a  well-known 
tackle-shop  in  London.  He  had  most  un- 
fortunately taken  out  with  him  a  large 
round  tin  box,  the  magazine  in  which  the 
whole  of  this  valuable  tackle  was  enshrined. 


136     OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

The  tin  box  went  overboard  with  other  odds 
and  ends,  and  was  written  off  as  lost. 
About  a  week  afterwards  a  lad  came  up  to 
our  camp  from  a  farm  on  one  of  the  lower 
pools  with  a  fine,  though  not  quite  complete, 
collection  of  salmon-flies,  which  had  been 
found  in  the  meshes  of  one  of  the  stake-nets. 
One  more  adventure.  I  have  seen  it  said 
that  "  all  fishermen  are  liars,"  and  on  the 
strength  of  the  story  that  I  am  going  to  tell 
I  shall  perhaps  qualify  for  enrolment  in  the 
fraternity.  It  all  happened  in  "  Jack  the 
Sailor,"  which  was,  I  think,  upon  the  whole, 
my  favourite  pool.  It  was  not  too  far  from 
home;  it  always  held  fish,  generally  large 
fish ;  and  it  was  extremely  dangerous,  which 
perhaps  added  to  its  attractions.  At  this 
point  the  river  flows  between  low  cliffs  sur- 
mounted by  a  thick  growth  of  trees.  Ribs 
of  jagged  rock  run  out  into  its  depths,  and 
could  be  plainly  seen  at  low  water,  twenty 
or  thirty  feet  below  the  surface.  Here  and 
there  great  water-logged  snags  had  become 
firmly   lodged    among   them.     The    whole 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  137 

arrangement  was  a  standing  invitation  to  a 
hooked  fish  to  cut  himself  free.  The  won- 
der was,  not  that  one  lost  fish,  but  that  fish 
were  ever  landed  amid  such  a  maze  of  en- 
tanglements. One  fish  out  of  "  Jack  the 
Sailor  "  was  to  my  mind  worth  three  caught 
in  any  other  pool.  I  used  often,  when  going 
down  the  river  late  in  the  evening,  to  stop 
for  a  couple  of  casts  in  "  Jack,"  although  I 
knew  that  another  canoe  must  have  been 
there  not  long  before,  and  I  more  than  once 
succeeded  in  stealing  a  fish  out  of  it  just 
as  it  was  becoming  dark. 

Bitter  experience  had  taught  me  that 
there  was  one  way,  and  one  way  only,  to 
avoid  disaster.  If  you  allowed  your  fish  to 
explore  the  fastnesses  of  "  Jack  the  Sailor  " 
you  would  most  certainly  lose  him,  and  prob- 
ably your  tackle  also.  The  only  chance  was 
to  prevent  such  exploration  at  any  cost,  to 
get  him  tight  by  the  head,  and  to  hang  hard 
on  to  him,  even  at  the  risk  of  a  break.  With 
a  stiff  rod  and  sound  tackle  you  can  put  a 
terrific  strain  on  a  firmly  hooked  salmon. 


138     OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON  RIVER 

I  am,  by  the  way,  convinced  that  more  fish 
are  lost  by  over-tender  handling  than  by 
more  vigorous  methods. 

One  day  in  1885  I  was  applying  my  prin- 
ciples to  a  very  stout  fish,  keeping  him  near 
the  canoe  in  the  clear  water,  and  checking 
him  whenever  he  tried  to  take  soundings. 
After  he  had  made  one  or  two  strong  drives 
and  been  met  with  an  equally  strong  applica- 
tion of  the  butt,  he  suddenly  yielded  to  the 
pressure,  shot  up  to  the  surface  within  two 
or  three  feet  of  us,  threw  himself  high  out 
of  the  water,  and  landed  almost  in  Noel's 
arms  between  the  thwarts  of  the  canoe.  He 
would  certainly  have  jumped  overboard 
again  had  not  Noel  driven  the  gaff  firmly 
into  his  side. 

All  this  happened  on  a  Saturday.  On 
Sundays  there  used  to  be  a  great  gathering 
of  the  boatmen  at  Woodman's  Farm.  On 
the  following  Monday  I  asked  Noel  whether 
he  had  said  anything  to  his  friends  about  our 
fish.  He  replied  that  he  had  told  Mr. 
Woodman  all  about  it.     "  What,"  I  asked, 


A   CANADIAN   RIVER  139 

"did  Mr.  Woodman  say?"  "He  said," 
replied  Noel,  "  for  me  to  come  in  and  have 
a  glass  of  whisky,"  and  with  this  oracular 
utterance  my  story  must  end. 

Many  years  after  I  had  said  good-by  to 
the  Cascapedia,  I  happened  on  a  warm  June 
evening  to  be  passing  through  the  back 
garden  of  a  London  house,  in  which  half  a 
dozen  grimy  trees  were  struggling  into  leaf 
amid  a  dingy  and  depressing  environment. 
Suddenly  something  took  me  away  from 
London  and  back  to  Canada  and  to  the 
river.  What  was  it?  There  was  a  reason. 
One  of  the  trees  was  a  poplar,  a  balsam 
poplar;  there  were  the  sticky  buds  and  the 
aromatic  and  intoxicating  scent.  For  a  mo- 
ment I  seemed  to  see  the  old  sights,  to  smell 
the  old  smells,  to  hear  the  old  sounds  —  the 
rush  of  the  rapids,  the  perfume  of  the  forest, 
the  clinking  of  the  iron-shod  poles,  as  the 
canoe  forged  its  way  upwards  to  the  Middle 
Camp  or  to  Lazy  Bogan. 


THE   PACIFIC    SALMON 


THE    PACIFIC    SALMON 

THE  salmon  of  the  Pacific  is  a  genus  that 
is  very  close  to  the  Atlantic  salmon,  differ- 
ing chiefly  in  the  increased  number  of  anal 
rays  and  in  the  fact  that  they  spawn  but 
once  and  all  die  after  spawning. 

When  in  the  sea  the  salmon  are  supposed 
to  dwell  20  to  40  miles  off  the  mouth  of  their 
native  river  and  return  to  spawn,  being 
attracted  by  the  cold  river  water. 

There  are  five  species  of  salmon  in  the 
Pacific. 

The  largest  species  is  the  Quinnat, 
chinook,  tyee  or  king  salmon  (Oncor- 
hynchus  tschawytscha)  which  is  found  from 
Monterey  Bay  to  northern  Alaska  and  also 
in  the  Siberian  rivers.  This  fish  frequents 
large  rivers  and  is  taken  in  the  Yukon  at 
Dawson  which  is  1,500  miles  from  the  sea. 

143 


144     OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON  RIVER 

They  are  said  to  attain  a  weight  of  over 
100  pounds.  They  will  average  25  pounds, 
many  fish  weighing  over  40  pounds.  The 
largest  I  have  seen  weighed  72  pounds. 

It  has  never  been  explained  why  there 
is  a  heavy  run  of  fish  every  fourth  year. 
This  heavy  run  occurs  the  year  following 
leap  year.  For  example,  in  1921  and  again 
in  1925. 

The  fishermen  claim  that  these  fish  re- 
main in  the  sea  for  four  years,  and  those 
that  weigh  about  20  pounds  have  returned 
sooner  and  are  called  springfish. 

The  very  large  fish,  those  over  50  pounds, 
may  have  remained  away  for  more  than  four 
years  or  perhaps  have  been  more  fortunate 
in  obtaining  good  food. 

The  Blueback  or  Sockeye  salmon  (O. 
nerka)  forms  the  greater  part  of  the  canned 
salmon  of  the  world  and  is  found  from 
southern  Oregon  to  Alaska.  This  fish  also 
has  a  heavy  quadrennial  run.  They  enter 
the  Columbia  and  Fraser  rivers  in  great 
numbers  and  journey  over  1,000  miles  from 


THE   PACIFIC    SALMON  145 

the    sea.     Their   maximum    weight    is    15 
pounds. 

The  Silver  or  Coho  salmon  (O.  kisutch) 
resembles  the  Atlantic  salmon  for  it  has  a 
brilliant  silvery  skin.  It  is  the  gamest  fish 
of  the  lot  and  usually  weighs  from  3  to  8 
pounds,  although  individuals  have  been 
taken  that  weighed  over  20  pounds.  They 
are  found  from  Monterey  Bay  northward 
and  also  along  the  Asiatic  coast,  being 
common  in  Japan. 

The  Humpback  salmon  (O.  gorbuscha) 
reaches  a  weight  of  from  3  to  6  pounds  and 
is  the  smallest  of  the  genus.  It  is  in  very 
great  abundance  in  the  rivers  of  Alaska. 
The  run  of  this  fish  is  heavier  in  the  odd  than 
in  the  even  years.  This  fish,  unlike  the 
other  species,  will  not  take  a  spoon  or  lure 
of  any  kind. 

The  Dog  salmon  (O.  keta)  is  very  abun- 
dant but  the  least  valuable  as  a  food  fish. 
It  is  found  from  the  Sacramento  northward 
and  reaches  a  weight  of  10  to  12  pounds. 

The    Steelhead    (Salmo    gairdneri)    al- 


146     OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

though  called  a  salmon  by  the  fisherman  is 
a  trout.  This  is  a  very  game  fish  that  takes 
a  fly.  Its  maximum  weight  is  said  to  be  20 
pounds,  although  the  usual  run  is  from  2  to 
6  pounds.  In  California  the  taking  of  this 
species  is  restricted  to  hook  and  line  fishing. 

The  number  of  salmon  in  the  Pacific  is 
beyond  all  belief.  Taking  the  year  1909  as 
an  example  we  find  the  catch  was  very  heavy 
owing  to  the  quadrennial  heavy  run  of  sock- 
eye  and  chinook  and  the  biennial  run  of 
humpback  salmon. 

The  total  catch  of  California  was  12,141,- 
937  pounds  and  of  Alaska  175,934,000 
pounds. 

The  total  catch  of  the  whole  coast  includ- 
ing British  Columbia  in  1909  is  said  to  have 
been  365,336,482  pounds  of  salmon  and 
steelhead  trout,  which  returned  the  fisher- 
men $7,224,024,  and  in  addition  there  were 
the  millions  of  fish  that  died  after  spawning. 


SALMON  FISHING  AT 
CAMPBELL   RIVER 


SALMON  FISHING  AT 
CAMPBELL    RIVER 

THE  Campbell  River  rises  among  the 
snow-capped  mountains  in  the  interior  of 
Vancouver  Island,  B.  C,  about  270  miles 
north  of  Victoria,  and  flows  southeast  into 
Discovery  Strait.  About  four  miles  from 
its  mouth  it  tumbles  over  high  falls  into  a 
canyon,  and  this  is  where  the  great  "  tyee  " 
(chief)  salmon  go  to  spawn.  Not  only  the 
tyee  use  these  spawning-beds,  but  the  hump- 
back and  the  beautiful  coho  salmon  are  also 
there  in  great  numbers. 

I  journeyed  six  days  to  see  if  the  reports 
of  the  wonderful  fishing  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Campbell  River  were  true,  and  found  the 
sport  far  better  than  I  had  hoped.  One 
reason  for  the  extraordinary  fishing  that 
season  was  the  fact  that  the  Government, 

149 


150     OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

by  heavy  fines,  had  succeeded  in  driving 
away  the  Japanese  poachers,  who  for  sev- 
eral years  openly  defied  the  law,  and 
poached  the  salmon  with  every  known  de- 
vice from  dynamite  to  illegal  meshed  nets. 

Discovery  Strait  is  a  stretch  of  salt  water, 
an  arm  of  the  Pacific  ocean,  which  separates 
Vancouver  and  Valdez  Islands,  and  is  about 
two  and  one-half  miles  wide.  If  it  were  not 
for  the  great  current  and  strong  tides  that 
flow  through  the  straits  it  would  remind  one 
of  a  Swiss  lake,  for  you  are  surrounded  by 
hills  beautifully  wooded  with  splendid  fir- 
trees,  and  snow  mountains  show  plainly  in 
the  distance. 

The  best  fishing  is  along  the  shore  of 
Vancouver  Island,  a  stretch  of  water  one 
mile  below  and  half  a  mile  above  the  sand- 
bar at  the  mouth  of  the  river.  The  current 
is  so  swift  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  fish 
except  at  the  change  of  the  tide  or  at  half- 
tide.  As  the  mode  of  fishing  is  trolling  with 
a  spoon,  it  is  impossible  to  make  enough 
headway  when  the  tide  is  running  strong, 


SALMON    FISHING   AT   CAMPBELL   RIVER      151 

especially  about  the  time  of  the  full  moon. 
The  natives  fish  with  hand-lines,  with  heavy- 
lead  and  small  silver  or  copper  spoons,  the 
lead  being  about  twenty  feet  away  from  the 
spoon.  It  is  most  interesting  to  watch  the 
Indians  standing  in  dugout  canoes  handling 
the  fish,  gently  playing  it,  and  finally  club- 
bing it  on  the  head,  when,  the  fish,  having 
fought  its  battle,  has  succumbed.  It  is  said 
that  these  fish  return  to  the  river  to  spawn 
after  having  left  it  four  years  before,  and 
that,  after  spawning,  they  all  perish.  This 
seems  hard  to  believe  —  hard  to  believe  that 
a  fish  can  grow  to  the  size  and  acquire  the 
strength  that  these  fish  do  in  so  short  a  time ; 
for  I  saw  one  giant,  taken  on  a  hand-line, 
that  weighed  72  pounds  at  the  cannery  some 
hours  after  it  was  taken,  and  I  killed  a  fish 
myself  that  weighed  60  pounds. 

These  fish  came  from  the  north,  and  are 
found  off  Kitmat,  some  four  hundred  miles 
north  of  Campbell  River,  early  in  May,  but 
do  not  appear  at  the  latter  place  before 
August  1. 


152     OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

Most  of  the  amateur  fishermen  who  were 
enjoying  the  sport  when  I  was  there  were 
sportsmen  from  England,  on  their  way  to 
Cassiar  after  big  game,  who  had  stopped  en 
route  in  the  hope  of  taking  a  fifty-pound 
salmon.  They  had  every  possible  kind  of 
rod  and  tackle,  most  of  it  better  adapted 
to  fly-fishing  than  to  sea-fishing,  for  this 
is  sea-fishing  pure  and  simple.  I  fished 
with  a  light  striped-bass  rod,  a  Cuttyhunk 
line,  and  with  three  ounces  of  lead,  seven 
feet  from  the  spoon.  The  lead  is  necessary, 
owing  to  the  strong  current,  and  does  not 
seem  to  bother  the  fish,  for  they  are  very 
quick  and  have  great  strength.  If  you  give 
them  the  butt  after  their  first  grand  rush, 
they  will  generally  jump  three  feet  into  the 
air.  If  you  fish  with  a  fly-rod,  they  never 
show,  and  are  apt  to  take  all  your  line  before 
you  can  stop  them.  The  light-tackle  fisher- 
men spend  most  of  their  time  repairing  out- 
fits and  buying  new  lines  and  spoons. 

The  fish  feed  on  small  bright  herring, 
which  abound,  and  any  bright  spoon  seems 


SALMON,  TOTAL  WEIGHT,  212  POUNDS 


TYEE  SALMON,  60  POUNDS 

Length  47  inches,  girth  32  inches 
Girth'  X  length  ,  , 

— m —  =  weight 


SALMON    FISHING  AT   CAMPBELL   RIVER      153 

to  attract  them  when  feeding.  The  coho 
salmon,  which  runs  from  five  to  ten  pounds 
in  weight,  are  at  times  very  plentiful.  The 
professional  fishermen  take  as  many  as 
seventy  in  a  day's  fishing,  and  the  cannery 
on  Valdez  Island  pays  ten  cents  apiece  for 
the  fish.  For  the  tyee  salmon  they  allow 
one  cent  a  pound.  I  saw  two  coho  salmon 
taken  with  a  fly  in  the  open  sea,  fish  of  about 
eight  pounds  in  weight;  but  as  the  fish  are 
moving  you  might  cast  all  day  without  rising 
one. 

I  took  the  following  fish  in  fifteen  days: 

August  1 :    60  pounds,  48  pounds,  46  pounds. 

August  2:  49^  pounds,  51£  pounds,  15  pounds, 
50  pounds,  46  pounds. 

August  3:   40  pounds. 

August  4:  45  pounds,  45  pounds,  42  pounds, 
42  pounds,  40  pounds,  46  pounds,  47  pounds,  12 
pounds. 

August  5:  45  pounds,  35  pounds,  30  pounds, 
42  pounds. 

August  6:  42  pounds,  44  pounds,  35  pounds, 
21  pounds. 

August  7 :  46  pounds,  40^  pounds,  41  pounds, 
17  pounds. 


154     OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

August  8:    20  pounds,  44  pounds. 

August  9:    43  pounds,  38  pounds. 

August  11 :  32  pounds,  46  pounds,  47  pounds, 
48  pounds. 

August  10 :   29  pounds,  32  pounds,  35  pounds. 

August  12 :  53  pounds,  41  pounds,  41  pounds, 
44J  pounds,  33  pounds. 

August  13:  53  pounds.  (High  wind  and 
rough  water.) 

August  14:   

August  15 :  51 J  pounds,  40  pounds,  40  pounds, 
37  pounds,  36  pounds,  35  pounds,  34  pounds. 

Forty-seven  tyee,  average,  43  pounds ;  5  spring 
fish,  about  20  pounds  each;  45  coho  salmon. 
Total  weight,  2179  pounds. 


DR.   JORDAN'S   OPINION 


DR.   JORDAN'S    OPINION 

DOCTOR  DAVID  STARR  JORDAN, 

of  the  University  of  California,  recently 
addressed  an  informal  gathering  of  scien- 
tists at  La  Jolla,  California,  pointing  out 
certain  interesting  biological  phenomenon  in 
connection  with  salmon.  Science,  it  seems, 
does  not  know  where  salmon  spend  their 
three  to  five  years  of  life  in  the  ocean.  Some 
of  them  are  supposed  to  stay  fairly  near 
the  shores,  where  they  first  enter  the  sea 
from  the  river.  But  no  one  knows  definitely. 
The  doctor  propounded  a  biological 
puzzle:  How  do  red  salmon  know  which 
rivers  or  streams  have  lakes  at  their  head- 
waters? It  is  an  established  fact  that  red 
salmon  will  not  ascend  any  other  kind  of 
stream  for  spawning,  although  king  salmon 
and  some  other  varieties  will.     In  this  con- 

157 


158     OBSERVATIONS   ON   A   SALMON   RIVER 

nection  he  told  of  a  certain  professor  who 
stood  on  a  bridge  across  a  stream,  one 
branch  of  which  came  from  a  region  without 
a  lake,  while  the  other  came  from  a  region 
with  a  lake.  The  professor  observed  king 
salmon  going  up  both  branches  of  the  river, 
but,  after  hours  of  watching,  he  had  seen 
red  salmon  invariably  choosing  the  branch 
with  a  lake. 

A  recent  conclusion  of  this  same  professor 
is  that  salmon  are  "  geared  "  to  the  river  to 
which  they  are  native.  He  reached  this 
conclusion  by  long  and  patient  observation. 
Some  streams  ascended  by  salmon  are  very 
short,  while  others,  like  the  Yukon  and  the 
Columbia,  are  very  long.  The  former  river 
is  fifteen  hundred  miles  long,  and  the  latter 
is  a  thousand  miles  long.  Salmon  from  a 
short  river  lack  the  qualities  of  endurance 
which  are  necessary  for  the  weary  journey 
to  the  headwaters  of  a  long  river,  often  re- 
quiring the  entire  summer,  while  salmon 
from  a  long  river  lack  the  characteristics 
necessary  to  make  use  of  the  conditions  in  a 
short  river, 


DR.    JORDAN'S   OPINION  159 

Apparently  this  is  one  of  the  fundamental 
reasons  why  salmon  hatcheries  are  not  suc- 
cessful; the  fry  cannot  be  liberated  except 
in  streams  to  which  they  are  geared. 


YB  45103 


